The average waiting time for a National Car Test has doubled since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Road Safety Authority has confirmed.
The Oireachtas transport committee is set to hear on Wednesday afternoon that the average lead-in time for a new appointment is now 24.5 days, as opposed to less than 12 days pre-March 2020.
The RSA’s chief executive Sam Waide is expected to tell the committee that the National Car Testing Service (NCTS), the company which operates the test, has found it “increasingly difficult” to recruit qualified mechanics as vehicle inspectors over the past two years.
In order to alleviate the pressure on the system, NCTS is transferring 22 staff from its Spanish operations to the Irish test centres which are under the most strain, Mr Waide will tell the Oireachtas committee.
A further 44 staff have been recruited from the Philippines in a bid to ease the backlog.
The backlog in NCT appointments has resulted from a build-up attributable to “multiple factors”, according to Mr Waide, including the impact of Covid, which caused “significant” staff absences at test centres, together with high levels of customer no-shows and late cancellations.
Furthermore, an ongoing supply crisis has led to a dearth of new cars, meaning there are more older cars on Irish roads, resulting in more than 1.5m vehicles requiring an NCT across 2022.
Mr Waide is set to tell the committee that 118 people have lost their lives on Irish roads to date in 2022 — an increase of 13 on the same period in 2021 and 10 on 2019.
He will say the figures “remain a concern” for the RSA, albeit they are running at a lower rate than during the first half of 2022.
The penalty for driving without an NCT certificate is a fine of up to €2,000, and/or up to five penalty points and/or imprisonment for up to three months.
However, gardaí have said they are cognisant of the delays in the NCT service when carrying out roadside checks.
If a vehicle is detected without a valid NCT certificate and the driver is able to produce evidence of a date for a test having been scheduled, gardaí have said they will "take this into consideration" when deciding whether to prosecute or not.