Revealed: Waiting lists for NCT tests at centres around the county

Motorists in Donegal are currently having to wait until December at the earliest to get a slot for their vehicle on the NCT Test booking system.

According to appointment wait time figures issued yesterday, for anyone booking an appointment in Carndonagh, the earliest date available is December 8.

For the NCT centres in Derrybeg and Letterkenny it is December 21 while for Donegal Town it is January 3, 2023.

As of 5.30pm on Wednesday, August 10, motorists in Dundalk faced the longest wait in the country with the next available slot for a test falling on February 20, 2022.

The earliest slot for a test anywhere in the country was October 25 in Clifden and also in Ballina. 

Almost 30 of the NCT centres had no availability at the time of checking until 2022.

The Road Safety Authority said: “NCT test appointment slots are released continually across all centres. Many slots also become available through cancellations or rescheduling of appointments. Some customers may only find dates that are beyond the due date for their NCT.

“If a customer requires an appointment sooner than those available online, they should contact NCTS directly on 01 4135992 or place themselves on the priority list online.”

It claimed that the vast majority of customers on the priority list get an appointment at their preferred test centre within four to five weeks. It added that the overall average booking lead time for an NCT was just over 23 days.

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

The full list of next available slots is below

FULL LIST OF SOONEST AVAILABLE BOOKING SLOTS AT NCT CENTRES IN IRELAND (as of 5.30pm, August 10)

Abbeyfeale - December 19

Arklow – January 18

Athlone – January 23

Ballina – October 25

Ballinasloe – January 6

Cahir – January 4

Cahirciveen – December 5

Carlow – January 4

Carndonagh – December 8

Carrick-on-Shannon – January 16

Castlerea – November 30

Cavan – January 31

Charleville – January 17

Clifden – October 25

Cork – Blarney – January 20

Cork – Little Island – January 24

Deansgrange – February 1

Derrybeg – December 21

Donegal Town – January 3

Drogheda – January 30

Dundalk – February 20

Ennis – November 22

Enniscorthy – January 4

Fonthill – February 2

Galway – December 1

Greenhills – February 2

Kells – January 18

Killarney – January 16

Letterkenny – December 21

Limerick – November 30

Longford – January 18

Macroom – January 30

Monaghan – February 9

Mullingar – January 3

Naas – February 3

Navan – January 30

Nenagh – November 29

Northpoint (Dublin) - February 9

Portlaoise – December 21

Skibbereen – February 7

Sligo – December 5

Tralee – December 7

Tuam – December 1

Tullamore – December 21

Waterford – December 8

Westport – November 4

Youghal – January 24