New temporary test centre sought after lobby by Craigavon driving instructors

Officials have been asked to find an alternative venue for driving tests in Craigavon, after a lobby by scores of instructors in Co Armagh.
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The DVA Centre, where MOTs and driving tests are carried out, was closed due the COVID-19 pandemic in March.

The area was used by the Department of Health as a centre for testing the new virus.

However as the Lockdown restrictions eased, driving tests centres across Northern Ireland reopened but not the one at Craigavon as it was being used as a COVID-19 testing centre.

Craigavon DVA Centre which is being used as a COVID testing centre.  Photo courtesy of Google.Craigavon DVA Centre which is being used as a COVID testing centre.  Photo courtesy of Google.
Craigavon DVA Centre which is being used as a COVID testing centre. Photo courtesy of Google.

News that it local learner drivers could not take their test at Craigavon led to a lobby by instructors across Portadown, Craigavon and Lurgan.

The Accredited Driving Instructors (ADI) said they already had to put their work on hold for months and it would be difficult for their students to take the tests at other centres without incurring significant costs.

The group said the decision not to reopen Craigavon Test Centre ‘can only be described as unnecessary and ill-considered and one which will have a significant detrimental impact upon both learners and instructors in the area’.

Taking a united front, the ADIs urged the Department for Infrastucture to find an alternative solution for driving tests.

In a statement this afternoon the minister Nicola Mallon said she had asked her officials in the Department for Infrastructure to ‘urgengly work with driving instructors, examiners and the Department of Health to find an accommodation locally that will allow the resumption of driving tests in Craigavon and local covid-testing’.

It was also revealed that the the DVA centre in Craigavon may no longer be needed by the Department of Health by next month.

A Department for Infrastructure spokesperson said: “On 6 April 2020, Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon announced that keeping people safe was her number one priority and that she would do all she could, within her Department, to support the Health Minister in the fight against Covid-19. Over the past number of months the Minister has made available the Belfast, Craigavon and Newtownards test centres to be used as Covid-19 testing centres.

“The grounds of the Craigavon Test Centre are currently being used by the Department of Health to conduct COVID-19 testing. As a result, while it is possible to conduct vehicle testing in the test centre, the DVA cannot safely conduct driving tests from the test centre at this time.

“The Minister has asked officials to urgently work with driving instructors, examiners and the Department of Health to find an accommodation locally that will allow the resumption of driving tests in Craigavon and local covid testing. The Department understands that the centre will no longer be needed by the Department of Health from mid-October.”

The ADIs said local driving schools were ‘reeling’ from the economic impact of COVID-19’ and any decision that the driving test centre remain closed to them ‘would worsen this’.

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