A Ridiculous Amount Of Irish Motorists Are On Their Third Learner Permits

New figures sourced by InsureMyCars.ie have revealed that there are currently 65,000 motorists in Ireland who are on at least their third learner permit.

The insurance website is now calling on the Government to address these learner permit “lifers”, who they believe may be clogging up the system and costing themselves, and the taxpayer, significant sums of money each year.

The figures reveal that Ireland's youngest drivers are the best at fulfilling their driving responsibilities while people in their 30s are seen as the worst with some on their 5th, 6th, 7th or even 10th learner permit.

Deirdre McCarthy of InsureMyCars.ie said:

“We did some homework around the number of learner drivers in the country and found the figures on multiple learner permits pretty staggering – there are 65,000+ people on their 3^rd or more learner permit. And 36,814 of them are on their 5^th or greater permit, some of whom are in their 30’s, 40’s, 50’s or 60’s.

"While a few may be late bloomers when it comes to driving, it’s apparent that many have been on the roads for years, without either taking or passing the driving test. Recent reports have highlighted the lengthy delays driving test wait times across the country with some people waiting up to 25 weeks to sit their test.

"Something needs to be done to address this backlog and we believe that if people were restricted in the number of times they could be granted a learner permit, it would lessen the number of driving test applications as people move from a learner permit to a full licence”.