A woman whose husband was killed by an unaccompanied learner driver says a new clampdown on learner permits must happen without delay.

It’s emerged this morning that Transport Minister Eamon Ryan has approved a new policy that means learners will only be able to keep driving after their third permit if they sit a driving test.

Figures show that over 27,000 drivers in Ireland have been on a learner permit for between 11 and 20 years.

Previously, learner drivers only needed to book a test to renew their learner permit – with road safety groups warning that many drivers were doing so indefinitely.

Under the new policy learners will have to sit the test before renewing.

PARC Road Safety Group Founder Susan Gray told The Pat Kenny Show her husband was knocked down and killed by an unaccompanied learner driver on St Stephen's night in 2004.

"At 4.30am he had stopped his vehicle at the side of the road, he was assisting two passengers.

"It's a long straight bit of the road and a young 21-year-old learner driver ploughed into him.

"He was lifted out of his shoes and his body ended up in a field behind his hackney van".

Ms Gray said the severe injuries her husband suffered led to her to set up PARC.

"His spinal cord was severed, his legs were shattered," she said.

"I know the autopsy results off by heart and that gave me the drive a year later to set up PARC.

"The young driver was not tested at the scene for intoxicants - whereas my husband came under the Coroner's Act and he was tested for everything and the tests call came back negative".

'Renewing a permit forever'

Ms Gray said the Road Safety Authority (RSA) asked PARC for input into a new road safety strategy back in 2013.

"One of the issues we asked them to address was the fact that a learner could renew their permit forever without ever having the requirement to sit a driving test before a new permit would be issued to them," she said.

"A provision was put in to the Road Safety Strategy 2013 with a completion date for the RSA to end this practice by the first quarter of 2014.

"We've been asking since for progress reports on what's happening with this issue [ever since].

"The Road Safety Authority has continually said that they needed more testers".

 'Get their act together'

Ms Gray said as more testers have been brought on-board the rest is now up to the RSA.

"This is a new policy now that our Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has signed off on," she said. “It's a ministerial order.”

"He's conveyed it to the Road Safety Authority - now it's totally up to the Road Safety Authority to get their act together and ensure that waiting times are down so that this policy can be implemented".

Ms Gray said some learner drivers have been getting a letter with a test date and using it as proof that they applied to sit the test.

"They don't have to turn up for the test, they use that letter then to renew their learner permit time and time again," she said.

"Last year our research showed that over 6,000 learner drivers didn't bother showing up for their scheduled test date.

"They were able to renew their learner permit no problem and the RSA took in over €500,000 last year from these no-shows".

Figures show 15 learner drivers were involved in fatal collisions last year and 14 of those were unaccompanied at the time.