Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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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.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I am replying on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, who would like to thank the Deputy for raising this important matter.

The operation of all roadworthiness testing in the State, including the National Car Testing Service, is the statutory responsibility of the Road Safety Authority, RSA. It is important to highlight that quarter 1 is always the busiest time of the year for the NCT service. This is because the date of the first registration of a vehicle determines the subsequent roadworthiness test due dates. Long-term trends demonstrate a strong preference among vehicle purchasers to buy at the beginning of the year, with January and February the busiest months for registrations and high demand for NCT appointments accordingly.

Coinciding with this typically busy period is the need to manage the continuing impact of Covid-19 on staff availability at NCT test centres. In January this year, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, was advised of a higher rate of test cancellations than usual. In January and February 2022, there were approximately 36,000 test appointment cancellations, of which 11,400 were cancelled by the NCTS. This is broadly in line with 2021 figures, which saw approximately 28,000 cancellations, with 7,800 of these cancelled by the NCTS. These figures include very high levels of customer no-shows and late cancellations, undoubtedly as a result of Covid-19. This has led to an average lead time for an appointment of just under 21 days in this quarter to date. Before the pandemic, the average waiting time was up to 12 days.

However, the NCTS is working hard to ensure that all customers can book their vehicle in for testing in a timely fashion and significant progress has been made in addressing this backlog. Currently, all 49 NCT test centres in Ireland are fully operational and the NCTS has taken a number of steps to provide additional capacity at test centres in the immediate term, including offering overtime to staff and running a longer shift schedule than normal. This is in addition to ongoing efforts to improve the efficiency of service delivery and recruit additional staff, including securing agreement from the RSA to develop a proposal for an alternative resourcing model to provide semi-skilled staff capacity to complete machine-led elements of the inspection process. This will be considered further in the coming months with a view to establishing a pilot scheme.

NCT test appointment slots are released continually across all centres and many slots also become available through cancellations or rescheduling of appointments. Some customers may only find dates that are beyond the due date for their NCT, as the Deputy mentioned. If a customer requires an appointment sooner than those available online, they should contact the NCTS directly or place themselves on the priority waiting list online. The NCTS will do its best to accommodate all customers on the priority list within 28 days of application. Currently approximately 18,000 people are on the priority waiting list, with 32,500 full tests carried out each week.

The NCTS has also advised that customers can book a test appointment up to 90 days in advance of their test due date without affecting the validity period of the certificate issued, which allows them to ensure a suitable test date at their preferred centre and avoid incurring the risk of delays during busy times.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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I ask that the NCTS website be updated with clear messaging about the extension in order to remove stress and panic for people when they are booking. It is encouraging that new staff will be hired. At least there is a sense that the NCTS is looking to fix the problem. Unfortunately, I believe the NDLS used the pandemic to copperfasten changes that are disadvantageous to the public such as insisting on non-cash payments and making it more difficult for people to get driving licences. That issue needs to be revisited. We should look at the post office network for driving licence provision. We have a network of more than 800 post offices throughout the country as opposed to a couple of dozen NDLS offices.

In the debate on the previous Topical Issue, it was mentioned that we are about to have a big population increase with people coming from Ukraine. Many of those people will be coming in their own cars. This will be an issue for driving licences. We do not have an agreement with Ukraine on the transfer of driving licences, something which needs to be fast-tracked. We will also need to have some kind of process for the NCT.

There is a lot to do, but this is having a real impact on people. It is an additional stress for people on top of major crises happening in our country, in our region and throughout the world. It is these pebble-in-the-shoe issues that the Government can solve and should solve. I ask the Minister of State to bring the issue to the RSA to try to get it resolved.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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On behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, I again thank the Deputy for raising the matter. The backlog for the NCTS has undoubtedly been frustrating as the Covid-19 restrictions have eased and many people are now returning to their offices and workplaces. The Department of Transport is very aware of the challenges faced by the NCTS and the RSA as they work to manage the extremely high demand for test appointments for the National Car Testing Service. There are clear signs of progress since this issue was first notified to the Department of Transport at the beginning of the year. The proactive work to increase capacity at test centres and to manage priority waiting lists will help.

Demand is expected to ease as we enter quarter 2. However, it can be expected that it will take a few months for the waiting list to reduce to its normal level of less than 1,000 as more people look to get back on the road. I have noted the Deputy's point about the website and the potential challenges posed by the large number of Ukrainian citizens arriving in the State.