Ireland’s learner driver training system needs a “massive overhaul” to reduce road deaths, driving instructors have warned.

The Professional Driving Instructors Association (PDIA) is calling for the number of mandatory driving lessons to be increased to roughly 30 hours.

It comes after another dark weekend on Ireland’s roads – including five deaths recorded since Saturday.

PDIA head Dominic Brophy said the current Essential Driver Training (EDT) requires 12 hours of lessons with an instructor and three hours of practice in between lessons. 

“48 hours are recommended, but only 12 hours are obligatory,” he told Newstalk Breakfast. 

“The system in place at the moment, 25% of the time that a driver is learning they're with a professional instructor and 75% of the time they are with a novice instructor. 

“That has to be flipped around and the professional driving instructor has to be the main educator.” 

Cost of driving lessons

According to the Irish School of Motoring, 12 EDT lessons cost €545 - although lessons with private instructors can rise as high as €650. 

To “flip” the current system and require 36 hours of mandatory lessons would cost learner drivers anywhere between €1,300 and €1,600, based on current costs. 

Addressing potential cost increases, Mr Brophy said instructors’ priority is “keeping customers safe”. 

“We want to keep our customers safe and keep family members safe,” he said. 

“We see the tragedies on the road every weekend and we see the increase from 2022 to 2023 and we see the increase coming up in 2024 in serious road deaths. 

“Learning how to drive is an important business and being on the road can be a dangerous thing to do if you're not trained.” 

Teenage boy fixing an L plate to the back of a Renault Clio before a driving lesson.

Mr Brophy noted Ireland is one of three European countries with increasing road death rates – largely because other countries have refined their training. 

“In Sweden for example, they insist on 24 hours – but they also do paramedic course and [courses] like how to control your car if it was to go into a skid,” he said. 

“We're very low on the table of the amount of obligatory driving lessons.” 

According to The Irish Times, average driving test waiting times remain at 15 weeks - despite Government plans to reach 10 by the middle of 2024.

Some 113 people have died on Irish roads since the start of 2024, compared to 96 within the same time last year.