Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the ongoing issues people are having trying to book an appointment with the National Car Testing Service, NCTS, and engaging with the National Driver Licence Service. In many aspects these things have become intertwined. In many cases it is essential for people to pass their test to take up employment. The crisis has become compounded. We have moved beyond Covid restrictions and we need to get these services back to where they should be.

Constituents of ours have contacted me outlining various scenarios impacting their lives due to the backlog in the system. For one person, his NCT is not due until 2 July, but when he tried to book his test, the earliest date he can get is 3 August, five months from now. We need to bear in mind that this man is attempting to book his test four months ahead of his NCT expiry date. Another constituent, whose NCT is due in coming weeks, cannot get a test until late August. He is a young learner driver who is paying extortionate insurance costs and is preparing to take his driving test in April. Those are two reasons this young man needs his NCT as soon as possible. In recent days people in my office checked and the earliest date they could get a test was in July, but in Naas and not anywhere in Fingal or other areas of Dublin. That is three months away in another county. The earliest time for any test in Dublin was August or September.

The messaging on the website is confusing. The four-month extension that was granted during the Covid pandemic is said to still exist but when people enter their registration number into the NCT website, it is not spitting back the four-month extension but is spitting back the date their NCT was originally due. The whole system is mired in confusion and delay, which is causing real stress to people who are trying to get on with their lives post Covid, trying to take up employment, trying to take their car test, trying to care for people and trying to do their shopping or collect kids from school. This is this is a serious problem. Some 8,500 people are on the waiting list, whereas it was 1,000 in 2019. The time for forbearance on this issue has gone.

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