Almost 15,000 people failed to turn up for their driving test last year, the Minister for Transport said today.
Another 6,500 who did attend failed to comply with the requirements of the test and could not be tested, the Minister added.
Speaking in Limerick at the opening of a new test centre, the Minister said new legislation due before the Dáil in the coming weeks would reduce waiting lists. Mr Brennan said the establishment of the Driver Testing and Standards Authority, as well as the recruitment of new testers, would cut waiting times.
The average waiting time for a driving test in the State is 42.3 weeks. In Naas, Co Kildare, the waiting time is 66 weeks.
Mr Brennan said: "While the numbers on waiting lists remains unacceptably high, there are reasons for us to be optimistic. I am confident that the service, with an annual capacity of approximately 200,000 tests per year is cabable of meeting the underlying demand for driving test."
The Minister he was determined to change the culture of long-term use of provisional licences.
Fine Gael's spokesman on transport Mr Denis Naughten, said Mr Brennan's actions were two years late.
"The massive nationwide backlog in driving tests is the sole responsibility of Minister Brennan, who, as usual, is trying to do everything in the wrong order.
"In December 2002 he announced a clampdown on motorists driving on provisional licences. But he did nothing to increase capacity in the Department of Transport to deal with the sudden surge in learner drivers applying to take the driving test.
"Now, more than two years since taking office, he has finally realised that if you want more people to take the test, you have to provide the driver testing service with more resources."
