Debate contribution: MOT Testing: Backlog

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 11 March 2024.

MLA

Mr Colin McGrath

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

11 March 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

MOT Testing: Backlog

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4270271

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. The debate has been somewhat interesting, in that, before the Minister took to his feet to respond to it, we were able to read his remarks and see some of the things that he was going to accept. One was our amendment. That is welcome, but, as ever, the devil is in the detail, as the words that he used are, "I will explore". That means that the Minister will explore the suggestions, if they come from the Department, so we still have a bit of road to travel, and we will have to see how those things develop. The interesting thing about the debate is that almost every contributor said practically the same thing. That places a bit of a difficulty on the Member who makes the winding-up speech on the debate, because there is bit of an onus to give feedback on what Members have said, but everyone said the same thing. I do not intend to rehearse the points in any great detail, but, in summary, Members are aware from their constituents that it is taking an absolute age to get an MOT test and that that can cause considerable stress and pressures, because it might not be done in time. People might have to take their cars off the road for a period while they get the right appointment or chase up an emergency appointment. We all have had such individuals come into our constituency offices asking for help to secure appointments. I am not an Infrastructure Committee member, but, reading across to the Health Committee, of which I am a member, we can think about many of those in the domiciliary care sector who are out working in the community and providing valuable community care. Often, representatives from that sector come to us and say, "If I do not get my MOT sorted out, I will not be able to do my work". That links to other professions as well. It is really important to get access opened up for tests in a timely manner. As we sit here, we all know about the website to which you can log on to check when your MOT is due. The debate prompted me to do that, and I see that my MOT is due in eight weeks. I thought, "I had better get on to the other part of the website", which is where you book an appointment. Of course, I was presented with the fact that I need a booking reference number, which I will not have until I receive the reminder letter. I can see how I will start to move towards the territory in which it will be so late by the time I get the opportunity to apply for an MOT. I know that the Minister and others know the importance of an Opposition and that we need to be here. I will need that car to be able to come up to Stormont

and carry out my work so that I can provide that scrutiny. I hope that, once I get the date for my appointment, I will be able to avail myself of that service, if needed, that helps people to get their test a little more quickly. Those who are not necessarily as heavily involved in matters relating to infrastructure may have been struck, as I certainly was, by hearing that over a million tests have been carried out. That is really quite shocking, as it is such a large number. When one thinks about the number of test centres that we have, which is not huge, the fact that they are undertaking a million-odd tests every year is an achievement. We know that the cost-of-living crisis means that people hold on to cars for longer and that, generally, newer cars are of better quality and are able to last a little longer. That is the main reason for our suggestion that we move to biennial testing, because we feel that cars up to the age of about 10 should be relatively safe. They will have warning lights that will come on and indicate that there is something wrong with the vehicle, and that should help. The distance that some people have had to travel for testing was mentioned. One issue is that, because of the difficulties in the system, people are crossing each other. People from Enniskillen might have to come to Downpatrick, which is a wonderful thing for them to do, but, likewise, people from Downpatrick might have to go to Enniskillen. If the systems were organised in a timely way, that would help people greatly, as they would be able to access their local MOT centre, resulting in minimal disruption. As was eloquently said, that means that, if there is a problem with the car, they will not be travelling 80 or 90 miles in a vehicle that may not be suitable for the road.

The arguments have all been well-rehearsed and made. We put forward our suggestion about biennial testing, and I welcome that the Minister has said that he will consider that if it comes up. I just hope that we can get it sorted out, because far too much time is being invested by people having to complain to their MLAs about not being able to access a timely MOT test. We hope that we can get that sorted.

902 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:53 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification