Passing the driving test is a rite of passage for many, but around 72,000 drivers are currently waiting to ditch those L-plates.
Robyn Maguire applied on 2 November 2022 and is still waiting to take the test 13 months later.
"I just finished all my lessons and I booked straight away.
"So I've been waiting. It's over a year and I'm still waiting.
"My test centre is Dún Laoghaire/ Deansgrange and as far as I know, it's the busiest test centre in Ireland.
"I did think about applying to another test centre, but because I'd waited so long already, I didn't really see the point of it and other people were doing the same thing so I could see that the wait was increasing everywhere," Robyn said.
For the past year, Robyn's parents have had to accompany her in her car to and from work.
"I'd love to be able to park my car in work and be able to drive home. Also in my job there are times when I have to be off site, I have to go somewhere and then if it's outside Dublin, I'm thinking, am I going to do public transport?
"Am I going to get one of my parents to drive me there and then pick me up? It would make it so much easier if I could bring my car and park it and not have to think about getting home and public transport," she added.
Ms Maguire said she has already renewed her provisional driving license twice.
"I had two provisional licenses and then when I booked my test I had to get a year-long one because you can only get two and the third one has to be when you've booked your test.
"I had that one, but that went out of date. So now I'm on my second one-year provisional, so they're both €35 each.
"The money is adding up. I’ll also have to pay for the full license when I get it. I paid €85 for the test a year ago," she said.
Driving has changed significantly since the requirements to pass the driving test changed back in 2011.
Diving instructor, David MacDonald said he would like to see more independent driving in the test.
"There are many proposals now that the RSA are looking at. One recommendation in particular is the increased amount of time on the road driving.
"The current amount of time for a driving test is 50 minutes with a minimum requirement of 25 on the road.
"If they were to, for example, get rid of the questions and road sign identification at the start of the test, they would be able to do more on-road time with the driver and possibly even questions at the end of the driving test in relation to what the driver had been doing on the actual test itself.
"So tailoring questions to the driver. I'd love to see the likes of independent driving coming into the driving test like they have in the UK.
"In the UK, you could either be using a satellite navigation to follow or it could be, for example, following road signage to go to a particular destination.
"That would be one definite review that I would recommend for the driving test and then also maybe a section of the actual driving test, where you'd have to go out onto the motorway for a particular amount of time or incorporate it into the driving lessons because people are going out on the motorways with zero training." Mr MacDonald said.
Geraldine Herbert, motoring editor with the Sunday Independent, said there also needs to be more emphasis on vulnerable road users.
"There's certainly a case to be made that there should be a component around vulnerable road users as part of the driver lessons and then as part of the test.
"The test as it stands was devised in 2011 and since then, we have e-scooters which are going to be legalised very soon.
"We have a lot more e-bikes, but we also have new legislation around dangerous overtaking of cyclists.
"Now there's a safe distance that you have to keep when you're overtaking, that needs to be told.
"It's vital that the driving test keeps up to date with those areas, in terms of what the new driver faces as a risk on the road, but also the risks that they pose to others," Ms Herbert said.
The Department of Transport said in a statement that the department and the RSA considered changes to the learner permit process to reduce the number of people on a fourth or subsequent learner permit prior to the pandemic.
It also said that the RSA had been recruiting more testers in an effort to bring down the waiting times.
It said that it is seeing improvements and it expects normal service levels to be achieved by mid-2024.
A spokesperson for the Road Safety Authority also told RTÉ’s This Week programme that they are in discussions with the Department of Transport about making changes to the driving test.
