Motorists can skip the six-month NCT queue by calling in for a test

In some parts of the country, motorists have to wait six months to request a National Car Test (NCT) appointment online.

Anyhow, Applus+, the company that runs the service, said if motorists call the helpline number, they can make an appointment within a month.

A spokeswoman for the company said it is only putting a third of its appointments online as it is still grappling with the Covid-related issues that are part of the reason for the backlog.

“Covid is still affecting us; there are personnel problems. If a motorist is applying online and the earliest date is around six months, please give us a call. Then when people call us, they get a much earlier appointment within a month,” the spokeswoman added.

In January and February of this year alone, 36,000 test appointments were canceled, 11,400 of them by the NCT.

The NCT is carried out every two years for vehicles between the ages of four and nine. An annual inspection is required for vehicles over 10 years old.

However, as a result of the pandemic, a four-month deferral was granted on March 28, 2020 for cars registered before August 1, 2016.

The Applus+ spokeswoman said it was a “particularly challenging time” for the service.

“All centers are currently in quite high demand, with Drogheda having the highest wait time and Limerick the shortest wait time. The reason Drogheda has the highest is because it is currently undergoing renovations in the customer waiting area.

“These improvements will greatly enhance the overall NCT customer experience, but in order to safely complete this renovation work, we unfortunately had to reduce capacity for the duration of the work.”

She said the first three months of the year is generally the busiest time for the National Car Testing Service (NCTS), “as the NCT is due on the anniversary of the vehicle’s registration date and most registrations occur at the beginning of the year.

“This year has been particularly challenging for NCTS with the impact of Covid resulting in significant absenteeism from testing center staff and a number of canceled NCT appointments. In addition, there were very high levels of customer no-shows and late cancellations.”