New driving test needed for Southside, Ward says

Sinn Féin spokesperson for Dublin, Mark Ward TD, has called on the government to deliver a new driving test centre in south Dublin.

Deputy Ward was speaking after receiving a response from the Road Safety Authority stating that “no site has yet been secured” and that “it is not possible at this stage to provide a definitive timeline for a new test centre”.

An additional test centre for south Dublin was announced in August 2025 with a location selected in Sandyford, which was subsequently cancelled in April due to long term feasibility of the site.

Teachta Ward said:

“The delay in delivering a new driving test centre in south Dublin is unacceptable. It has been left in limbo since the first site was deemed untenable for the long term.

“A new test centre for south Dublin was announced back in August 2026 . This decision was made because Tallaght had the highest waiting lists and the longest waiting times.

“A site in Sandyford was selected but then only in April, was deemed not to be tenable as a long-term location.

“Here we are months later and the RSA have told me that “no site has yet been secured”.

“They have also told me that ‘it is not possible at this stage to provide a definitive timeline for a new test centre’.

“This announcement was made nearly a year ago, and we are no closer to getting a new test centre.

“Meanwhile, there were 64,530 drivers waiting for a driving test across the state by the end of June. Over 10%, 6,474, of these were waiting for the Tallaght test centre.

“The average waiting time for a test is 11.8 weeks, this is 13 weeks for Tallaght.

“Government needs to act. They say they want to see waiting times go down, we need to see that they are serious about this by delivering this new driving test centre for south Dublin.”