There are almost 10,000 learners in Donegal, according to Freedom of Information figures obtained from the Road Safety Authority by the Irish Road Hauliers Association.
Over the past six months, the national figure has risen by over 12,000 to just over 394,000.
3,120 learner permit holders in Donegal are aged between 17 and 20, 60 are aged between 70 and 79, and 15 learner permit holders in the county are over the age of 80.
President of the association, Ger Hyland says the RSA has questions to answer……………
IRHA release in full –
9,949 learner drivers on the roads in Donegal is a crisis – Hyland
394,128 learner drivers on Ireland’s roads in total. Over 12,000 more learner driver permits in just 6 months
New figures released from the Irish Road Safety Authority (RSA) reveal that there are 394,128 learner permit holders now on our roads in Ireland at the end of September 2025. 9,949 of them are in Donegal alone.
That is an increase of 12,257 learner drivers nationally on our roads since March of this year, just six months ago. The extraordinary number of learner drivers on Irish roads comes at a time when road deaths are spiralling. As of November 20th, 2025, Garda figures show that 158 people had lost their lives on Irish roads, 9 more deaths than on the same day in 2024.
Most learner permit holders in Donegal are aged between 17-20 (3,120 drivers) and 30 and 39 (2,018). 15 learner permit holders in Donegal are over the age of 80 while 60 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Donegal according to figures provided by the RSA.
(Full figures for Donegal on request)
Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) President Ger Hyland said the levels of inexperienced drivers on our roads “beggars belief” at a time when millions of taxpayers euros are being pumped into the RSA to clear a chronic backlog of driver testing across all licence categories”
Hyland warned that the surge in learner drivers on our roads poses a direct threat to Irish road safety,
“To have 394,128 inexperienced drivers on our roads is a testament to the failure of the Road Safety Authority and their mismanagement of our driver testing system. It is a mess and not getting any better, despite all the creative accounting that the RSA are doing with driver testing figures”
Hyland pointed to Garda figures which show that 2,754 fixed charge notices were issued nationally by Gardaí in the first three months of 2025 alone to learner drivers caught driving without a fully licensed driver. That is an increase of 9.5% on the same period in 2024.
Hyland said that our roads have become dangerous places for his members and accused the RSA of not getting a handle on what is a crisis for Irish road safety.
Hyland called on media to robustly interrogate the real story behind the vast numbers of Irish people waiting for car, truck and bus driving tests. Hyland said that the IRHA no longer has confidence in the data provided by the RSA,
“How are we supposed to accept that around 10% of Ireland’s driving public are on some kind of learner permit? We have been asking questions of the RSA for the past 12 months on behalf of our members and the driving public. The RSA have ducked, dived and dodged accountability and transparency and it is high time that Minister Sean Canney called them to task”
| County | Learner Permit holders March 31st 2025 | Learner Permit holders September 30th 2025 | Increase in 6 months |
| Carlow | 5,147 | 5,524 | 377 |
| Cavan | 5,591 | 5,799 | 208 |
| Clare | 7,659 | 7,858 | 199 |
| Cork | 42,660 | 43,511 | 851 |
| Donegal | 9,872 | 9,949 | 77 |
| Dublin | 118,865 | 122,544 | 3,679 |
| Galway | 18,470 | 19,107 | 637 |
| Kerry | 10,348 | 10,979 | 631 |
| Kildare | 19,583 | 19,837 | 254 |
| Kilkenny | 6,865 | 7,022 | 157 |
| Laois | 6,700 | 6,922 | 222 |
| Leitrim | 2,281 | 2,328 | 47 |
| Limerick | 14,966 | 15,534 | 568 |
| Longford | 3,687 | 3,797 | 110 |
| Louth | 10,968 | 11,433 | 465 |
| Mayo | 8,763 | 9,289 | 526 |
| Meath | 15,772 | 16,057 | 285 |
| Monaghan | 3,643 | 3,768 | 125 |
| Offaly | 5,758 | 6,171 | 413 |
| Roscommon | 4,385 | 4,485 | 100 |
| Sligo | 4,574 | 4,687 | 113 |
| Tipperary | 12,709 | 13,010 | 301 |
| Waterford | 10,600 | 11,247 | 647 |
| Westmeath | 8,201 | 8,635 | 434 |
| Wexford | 11,909 | 12,456 | 547 |
| Wicklow | 11,895 | 12,179 | 284 |
| Total | 381,871 | 394,128 | 12,257 |
Source: RSA freedom of information. Learner permit holders across every county in Ireland
According to Hyland,
“Over thirty organisations representing road safety, cycling, and pedestrian advocacy groups across Ireland issued a joint statement last year expressing a lack of confidence in the Irish Road Safety Authority. Similarly, the Irish Road Haulage Industry has indicated that it no longer holds confidence in the RSA nor the figures they continue to present around driver testing. It is therefore imperative that the Minister engage with the transport sector and take appropriate and decisive action to address our concerns.
The figures show that the largest cohort of learner drivers nationally (96,130) are between the ages of 30- 39 indicating that drivers are leaving it late to undertake their driving test. 90,688 learner drivers nationally were between 17-20. Surprisingly, 410 learner drivers nationally were over 80 years of age.
