Over 388k learner drivers on Irish roads

There are 388,090 learner drivers on Ireland’s roads, 6,219 more than one year ago.

Figures released to the Irish Road Haulage Association from the Irish Road Safety Authority (RSA) reveal the number of learner drivers currently on the roads across the country.

Dublin saw an increase of 2.262 learner drivers, bringing the total number in 2026 to 121,127.

Louth saw an increase of 413 learner drivers, while Waterford had 408 more learner drivers compared to last year.

Roscommon was the only county to see a reduction in learner drivers, with a reduction of 71. Longford has the same number of learner drivers at 3,687.

President of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Ger Hyland, said it shows that the RSA is not making real progress on driver testing backlogs and that the figures indicate that the RSA is out of their depth.

“Road deaths are spiralling. As of June 3rd, Garda figures show that 73 people had lost their lives on Irish roads, 6 more deaths than on the same day in 2025 - an already bad year for road safety.

“388,090 inexperienced learner 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”