Hauliers group say RSA is playing ‘dangerous game’
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has been accused of “massaging” driver testing figures by moving drivers from commercial testing into car testing in Cork and across the country.
The accusation came this week from the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), Ireland’s national representative body for the road haulage industry.
The association claims that the RSA has been moving testers from articulated truck, bus, and truck testing to car testing in order to reduce wait times for car driving tests. The group said this has in turn caused waiting times for commercial driving tests to increase exponentially.
The IRHA said the number of people on waiting lists for driving tests for a car fell by 10% between April and June 2025, while waiting lists increased by 42% for trucks and 40% for articulated trucks in the same period.
Ger Hyland, President of the IRHA, claimed the RSA took the decision “under intense political pressure” to move their testing resources from commercial testing into car testing, rather than expand their testing capabilities overall.
Mr Hyland described it as a “dangerous game” the RSA are playing which is effectively robbing Peter to pay Paul at a time when the haulage sector is desperately short on drivers.
“The actions of the RSA are stifling economic growth in rural Ireland by delaying the qualification of suitably qualified professional drivers who are desperately needed to support small and medium sized businesses across the country.
“Young Irish drivers who need a license to drive a bus, truck, or heavy goods vehicle (HGV) cannot get licenses because the RSA have all but stopped commercial testing to focus on car testing. They have pulled the wool over this Government’s eyes and instead of dealing with the high demand for testing, they decided to simply move the deck chairs around the Titanic,” he added.
Responding to the claims, the RSA said it remains fully committed to delivering fair and timely access to driving tests across all licence categories, including commercial vehicles.
An RSA spokesperson said: “In May 2025, we delivered record levels of Category C and D (truck and bus) tests in preparation for the release of our experienced staff from the service to support the training of our new recruits. This resulted in a reduction of testing staff to support the higher licence categories during the training period in June and July.
“This short-term adjustment is already delivering improvements in overall capacity. Once the new testers are fully deployed from early September, waiting times for all licence categories - including commercial - will stabilise and meet service-level agreements,” they added. The RSA highlighted previous concerns expressed by the IRHA about long waiting times for car driving tests potentially leading to more unaccompanied learner drivers sharing the road with professional HGV drivers.
"The RSA’s focus is on providing a high-capacity, sustainable and safety-led testing system that serves all road users — commercial and private — and supports Ireland’s broader economic and workforce needs.”