Waiting times for each MoT centre in Northern Ireland: Alliance calls for return of Temporary Exemption Certificates to tackle test backlog

A call has been made for the government to redouble its efforts to unclog a “huge bottleneck” of MoT tests, with some test centres booked up for the next five months (see below).

The Alliance Party has demanded the DVA “bring back use of Temporary Exemption Certificates”, which suspend the need for drivers to get their cars through an MoT test in order to keep them on the road.

Alliance infrastructure spokesman Andrew Muir said: “The DVA has gone to great lengths to increase testing capacity, including recruiting more vehicle examiners and extending available testing slots at weekends and during bank holidays.

“Unfortunately there is still a huge bottleneck in the system and no light at end of the tunnel...

“I’ve asked the infrastructure minister [John O’Dowd] to consider the short-term use of Temporary Exemption Certificates to remove the immediate strain on motorists and allow the system to get back to an even keel in the year ahead.”

He concluded: “Action needs taken now to end what is now developing into a complete fiasco.”

FAULTY LIFTS... THEN A PANDEMIC:

Even before Covid-19 hit, the DVA was struggling.

In January 2020, the government began issuing exemption certificates of four months in duration, due to mechanical problems with the vehicle lifts.

Then year-long certificates were issued in May 2020 as Covid closed down the Province’s MoT stations. These were extended by another four months in February 2021.

A glance through the figures shows the extent of the headaches caused by all this.

From 2015 to 2019, roughly in the region of 70,000 to 80,000 tests were being conducted each month.

But in February 2020 this fell to 36,000, then 23,400 in March – then plunged to zero for three months, and did not rebound to normal levels until about autumn 2021.

The Alliance call for action echoes one made by the UUP earlier in the month.

At that time, its infrastructure spokesman John Stewart said: “People are worried their insurance might be invalidated if they were to be in an accident in a vehicle that has not passed an MoT.

“Furthermore, cars can’t be taxed without a valid MoT certificate.

“None of this is the fault of any motorist and it is totally unfair that they should be the ones penalised for a situation which is not of their making ...

“Minister John O’Dowd needs to urgently tell the public what plans he is putting in place to address these unacceptable delays.”

WAITING TIMES:

The News Letter tonight tried booking an MoT test for a standard private car.

Here were the earliest possible dates the NI Direct website gave for each test centre (NOTE: if you go back to the start of the booking process and try again, new dates come up each time):

• Armagh: Jan 13

• Ballymena: Dec 19

• Cookstown: Jan 6

• Coleraine: Aug 17

• Craigavon: Jan 13

• Downpatrick: Jan 25

• Larne: Jan 26

• Lisburn: Oct 6

• Mallusk: Nov 12

• Newbuildings: Dec 12

• Newry: No slots

Official stats show that the busiest centre of all last month was Newtownards with about 8,700 tests with Omagh the quietest, at just under 2,900.

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