A call has been made for Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Council to write to the Driver & Vehicle Agency NI (DVA), to express concerns over prolonged delays in getting local appointments for driving tests.

Speaking at the latest monthly council meeting, Councillor Liam Mackle (SF) said number of people had contacted him about difficulties and delays in getting appointments for a practical driving test in the local area.

“People are trying for weeks and weeks to get an appointment locally. They’re going online and finding appointments in Causeway or somewhere like that, where they haven’t done their practice driving.

“So, it’s really not practical for them to go and do a test in Coleraine when they’ve never driven in Coleraine.

ABC Council has been asked to write to the Driver & Vehicle Agency NI to express concerns over prolonged delays in getting appointments for driving tests locally. Picture: unsplash

placeholder image — ABC Council has been asked to write to the Driver & Vehicle Agency NI to express concerns over prolonged delays in getting appointments for driving tests locally. Picture: unsplash

“I was just looking for the council to maybe write to the DVA to inquire about what plans they have to address the waiting list and the difficulties in achieving a practical test locally.”

Deputy Lord Mayor, Alderman Lavelle McIlwrath (DUP) concurred with Cllr Mackle, remarking: “It’s a very valid point and it has been raised with me even by driving examiners.

“What seems to be happening is that a lot of candidates are turning up unprepared for driving tests and they’re failing, then automatically going for re-tests. That’s clogging the system.

“So, there seem to be some issues, and maybe also with the number of examiners. I’m happy to second that proposal.”

Councillor Peter Haire (DUP) explained that the new Graduated Driver Licensing scheme, which is about to be introduced, was also having an impact on waiting times.

“I had actually already written to the Driver & Vehicle Agency. I was contacted by a number of people regarding this,” he said.

“Basically, what they’re saying is that from this time last year they’re up by over 800 driving tests. That’s an increase of 3.5 per cent.

“The increase is due to the Graduated Driver Licensing scheme which is coming out on October 1. What they’re saying is that they are going to have a recruitment drive in the autumn.

“At the minute, the waiting list for Craigavon is seven weeks. The target they set was five weeks.

“I have no problem about writing to [DVA] and seeing how we can get that better.”

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Alderman Margaret Tinsley (DUP) remarked that the issue was nothing new.

“This has been going on for years. My son’s 23, and when he was 17 we had to wait. You were on 10 times a day and you maybe got an appointment that was six months in advance,” she said.

“You took it and hoped that you would then get an earlier appointment. Gradually you did climb back and were able to get an earlier appointment.

“I don’t understand what has happened that it’s now spiked again because I’ve never heard it being totally resolved.

“And also on the MOT side of things as well, that’s another issue. People are having to maybe book an MOT for Christmas and then hopefully go on and get cancellations.

“So, if Cllr Mackle wouldn’t mind, if we’re writing to that Department to ask about the driving tests, could we also ask what they’re doing to expedite the MOT tests as well?”

Cllr Mackle indicated that he had no issue with Ald Tinsley’s request.