A FERMANAGH councillor who has called for the county to have its own theory test centre, says that locals are being forced to travel as far as Ballymena due to the backlog created by Covid.
While it’s always been the norm for locals to travel to Omagh in order to take their theory test, vice Chairman of Fermanagh and Omagh District, Chris McCaffrey, has called on the Department of Infrastructure to “change” a system that has now forced locals to travel even further.
“Fermanagh is the only county in the North that does not have its own theory test centre, for too long people here have been expected to drive up to Omagh for our theory tests,” he said.
“I can remember travelling up on the morning of New Year’s Eve when I was 17-years-old to do mine, it was a hassle then and it is an even bigger hassle now.
“We’ve seen the Omagh centre is now not fit for purpose, as it cannot provide the capacity for the current level of demand on theory tests. A lot of this has been created of course from the huge backlog from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“People here cannot get appointments for July or August and are having to wait until September, while other people are being expected to drive as far up as Ballymena to do their tests.
“In Ballymena there are two Pearson Professional testing centres, meanwhile Fermanagh has not even got one.
“I think it’s time that this problem was rectified. During a recent Council meeting I proposed that we write to the DFI Minister, Nichola Mallon, to rectify this issue and to establish a service here in Enniskillen.
“A local centre that will offer a service to the entire people of Fermanagh. Instead of having to drive around the North to do our theory tests, we can do it here in our own county and I await an answer from her on that.”
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