By John Healy of Healy Insurances

With some NCT test centres booked up to March 2023, the Garda Siochána and Insurance Ireland have said they will take a “pragmatic and understanding” approach to motorists driving without valid NCT certificates due to the long wait for appointments.

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Insurance Ireland has stated that: 'Insurance Ireland members will be pragmatic and understanding in their approach to the current delays at the National Car Testing Service (NCTS). Cover will continue to be provided where customers, through no fault of their own, are unable to obtain their NCT due to backlogs at test centres. Motor insurance and road traffic legislation require that motorists maintain their vehicles in a roadworthy condition at all times and this remains the case. Under the current circumstances, provided motorists make every effort to book appointments in the normal way, insurance companies will recognise that the current issue is not the fault of the customer'.

All cars must be tested every two years once they are four-years-old, and every year once they are 10-years-old. According to the Road Safety Authority, on whose behalf the Swiss company Applus operates the NCT service, the current average wait for a test is 25 days.

An Garda Siochána said that "it is a legal requirement for a vehicle over four years of age to have a valid NCT certificate. An Garda Síochána is cognisant of the delays experienced by the Road Safety Authority in the provision of dates for the NCT. Where a motorist is detected driving a vehicle without a valid NCT certificate and no date of re-examination can be produced in evidence by the driver, the driver may be prosecuted for not having a valid NCT certificate and they are liable to have their vehicle seized. Where 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, a garda will take this evidence into consideration”.

The online booking site suggests that the next available date for Killarney is next February.