Two of the first people to take the Driver Theory Test, which began throughout the country today, have described it as "fair" and "well organised".
Ms Caroline Rigney of Coolock and Ms Lisa Maloney from the United States, both sat and passed the theory test in Dublin this morning, making them eligible to avail of a provisional driving license.
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Ms Lisa Maloney
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Over 1,000 people have applied for the theory test to date, which was introduced by the Minister for the Environment last April in an attempt to combat road deaths, and one hundred and ten people are expected to sit the computerised exam nationwide today.
Pass rates will not be known until later in the week but according to British company Prometric Thomson Learning, who are organising the tests, there is currently a 55 per cent test pass rate in the UK.
Launching a television advertising campaign, Prometric training centre executive Mr Calum Woodhams, told ireland.comthe application rate was slow initially but has now begun to increase. Five hundred of the 1,000 test applications arrived in the last week.
A promotional roadshow, which was postponed earlier in the year due to foot-and-mouth disease, will also be underway for seven months from the end of August and will travel to all counties.
There are 41 test centres, including mobile units, situated around the country from Dublin to Cork, Galway and Letterkenny, ensuring 98 per cent of the population will be within 30 miles of a centre.
Mr Woodhams predicts that when fully operational the centres will be able to test between 110,000 and 120,000 people. Currently about 70 testers, some of whom are ex-gardaí and ex-teachers, have the capacity to test 800 people daily.
According to Ms Rigney the test, which is based rigidly on a practice book available at bookshops for £12.99 contained no trick questions and took her 15 minutes to complete, rather than the 45 minutes allocated. Applicants must answer 35 out of the 40 questions in order to pass.
Ms Maloney, who works in banking at the IFSC and already has an operational international driving license, said she decided to take the test because her car insurance will drop from £1200 to £900 once she has an Irish driving license.
The test costs £25.20 every time it is taken.