Some motorists in Cork looking to book an NCT test are being forced to wait until next year to get their car tested.
It comes as some centres struggle with staff shortages and is resulting in people booking appointments at centres outside their county.
The next available date in Macroom is the 5th of January next year, while appointments in Skibbereen are booked out until the 18th of January.
Charleville is offering test dates from the first of December, while testers in Blarney and Little Island will be busy until the 21st and 22nd of December.
Garda Press say they realise people are facing long delays and are asking people to keep proof of a scheduled test with them if their cars NTC is out of date.
Motoring journalist with CompleteCar.ie, Dave Humphreys, says availability can depend on the size of the centre:
"Larger population areas have more test centres and that does make it easier, but it does very much depend on where you're living and how your test centre is being managed. Now, we do see that some people are getting tests sooner than when they initially see online, but it may necessarily be that you have to go to maybe not your preferred test center, but one that's close by."
