On 28 January, at the first meeting we heard from officials from the Department who took us through the safety problems at MOT centres. The officials laid out some of the procedures that they are putting in place to help motorists, including extending MOT certificates for four months for cars up for an MOT renewal.
You can watch the briefing session here.
On Wednesday 5 February, Department officials, as well as the Minister, came up to our Committee meeting. The Minister gave an overview of her priorities and there was also an update briefing from officials about the MOT situation. One of the issues that we are looking at is where cars are coming up for their first MOT and cannot take advantage of a four-month exemption. The officials reported that 5 lifts have been reopened and there are now new lifts and they are working with stakeholders to ensure that everyone knows what the department is doing. In addition the two reviews initiated by the Minister have now begun.
We will be continuing to monitor this situation in the coming weeks to ensure that no motorist is disadvantaged through no fault of their own.
Find out more about the work of the Committee; view Minutes of Proceedings from the meetings; and read the Minutes of Evidence (which is a transcript) on the Committee’s website. We also provide regular updates on twitter @NIAInfra.