The National Car Testing Service began a phased reopening of its service with the reopening 15 of the 47 centres in Ireland - only three of which are in the western region - Galway city, Athlone and Ballina.
In the short term the roadworthiness testing of vehicles will be on a limited basis and restricted only to those vehicles that had a test due date prior to 28 March 2020 (before the four-month extension to vehicle certificates of roadworthiness came into effect ).
This will include vehicle owners who were unable to secure a retest date because of the suspension of the service and those affected by the vehicle lifts issue. Those who fall into these categories can book an appointment for a test on the NCT website www.ncts.ie in any of the 15 centres that re-opened on June 8.
The re-opening of more test centres will be announced in the coming weeks and updates will be posted on ncts.ie In the interest of public information, updates will also be advertised in local papers and the trade press.
No opening dates are yet available for the reopening of the other 32 NCT centres, including those in this region - Ballinasloe, Clifden, Westport, Castlerea, Mullingar, Longford, Tullamore, Carrick-on-Shannon, Sligo, and Ennis.
The Road Safety Authority says over the coming weeks these and other remaining NCT centres will reopen on a phased basis. The reason for appears to be ongoing issues with lifts. The RSA says all centres reopening on June 8 have functioning lifts.
During the suspension of service, NCTS has made some progress in repairing and replacing the vehicle inspection lifts in test centres and this will continue in the coming weeks. It expect all centres will have functioning lifts by the middle of July ensuring all tests can be completed in full.
By way of clarity, no further vehicles presenting for a full test will pass through the NCT without completing all stages of the test. It adds that to enable the re-opening of centres, the NCTS has put detailed measures in place in each test centre to mitigate against the spread of Covid-19 and to protect both customers and staff.
These measures include, the need to make an appointment (vehicle owner will not be seen without an appointment ), customers are required to prepay their tests when booking online for preauthorisation purposes, the transaction can be completed using the card in the test centre. No cash will be accepted in the centres.
Social distancing controls will be in place including notices posted both internally and externally around the test centre with physical distancing floor markers.
"The safety of the public is paramount, and we continue to be guided by public health officials and relevant national experts. If information or guidance changes, we will reassess and change our procedures and protocols accordingly," the National Car Testing Service says.
All staff have received mandatory training on Covid-19 safety and hygiene protocols covering social distancing requirements, personal hygiene, and the correct use of PPE equipment.
Any customers who qualified for the four month extension to the period of validity of their NCT roadworthiness certificate are encouraged to log onto www.ncts.ie where they can check their new test due date.
