Delays in getting an appointment for an NCT are now stretching into June, reports the Irish Times. A spokeswoman for SGS, which operates the NCT service, said it was receiving some 25,000 booking inquiries per day – five time the norm – and that the volume of calls had not decreased substantially over the past week.

The lengthening delays follow attempts by thousands of motorists to secure an NCT at the earliest possible date, following the announcement by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey that five penalty points will be applied, on court conviction, for drivers who do not have a valid NCT certificate.

From May 1st, drivers are to be issued with five penalty points for driving faulty vehicles, driving vehicles without a certificate of roadworthiness and for failing to have an up-to-date NCT certificate.

Motorists who fail to address defects identified by the NCT will receive three penalty points, while truck drivers who strike overhead bridges will also receive three points.

But following the minister’s surprise announcement, the NCT website crashed and a notice explaining the ongoing malfunction was displayed instead of the webpage yesterday. Callers to the NCT call centre were experiencing lengthy delays and the email booking service was at least intermittently out of action…

Irish Times