Six month wait to book NCT in Dundalk

Motorists in Dundalk face an almost six month wait before they can book an appointment to get their vehicle a National Car Test (NCT) in the town, with the next available slot at the town's test centre not until 8 February 2023.

Dundalk has the third longest wait times in the country for an available slot. As of 1pm on Monday 15 August, the test centre in Drogheda had the longest wait time in the country, with the next available slot on 23 February 2023, followed by Northpoint 1 in Dublin on 9 February, and then Dundalk. In Monaghan, the next available slot was 24 January and in Navan it was 17 January.

The National Car Testing Service is operated on behalf of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) by Applus+. In a statement to the Dundalk Democrat, a spokesperson for Applus+ said, “NCT are experiencing high demand at present however, test appointment slots are released continually across all centres, and also, many slots become available through cancellations or rescheduling of appointments.”

It's statement continued: “Customers who require an earlier appointment than available online are asked to contact us on 014135992 or go online and place themselves on the priority list. As a result, any customer booking an NCT for their car, four weeks before its due date, should be able to have their car tested on time at most test centres.

“Covid continues to effect NCT operations, there are very high levels of customer no-shows and late cancellations, which, as you can imagine, is severely impacting the business and our ability to offer these appointments to other customers. Staff absenteeism levels at test centres have also resulted in cancelled NCT appointments.

“We are asking customers, if they know in advance that they will not be able to make their NCT appointment on the day, to let us know as soon as possible (they can cancel through our call centre on 014135992 or online www.ncts.ie) so that those appointments could be offered to those customers on the priority list.

“Customers are advised to keep a copy of their confirmation letter/email with them in order to present it to a member of An Garda Síochána, if required. This letter/email will clearly show that the customer has a confirmed booking or is on the current Priority list waiting for an appointment.

“Every effort is been made to manage demand at this busy time, including the recruitment of additional vehicle inspectors. Car owners are encouraged to check their NCT due date on the NCTS website https://www.ncts.ie/1101 and to either book online or place themselves on the priority list in advance of their expiry date. By doing this, it will ensure they get their car NCT’d.”

In the first half of this year, around 731,000 NCTs were conducted in Ireland, but 338,000 were failures, which means they will have to be retested. Tyres, front suspension, headlights and brakes were the most common problems.