MOT diesel test failure may spark legal bid

Emissions tests on diesel cars are required by law during an MOT

Friends of the Earth has said it is considering legal action over the failure to carry out diesel emissions tests during MOTs in Northern Ireland.

Tests on diesel cars were suspended in 2006 and have never been reintroduced, a BBC Spotlight investigation revealed.

Emissions tests on diesels at MOT are meant to be carried out using a device called a smoke meter and are required by law.

The purpose is to keep the most polluting diesels off the road.

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Failure to do tests means there are potentially tens of thousands of diesel cars with illegal emissions on the road in Northern Ireland.

According to Prof Robert Lee, of Birmingham University, the government in Northern Ireland is breaking the law by not carrying out the test.

Friends of the Earth's James Orr said his organisation could take separate legal actions in both Northern Ireland and Brussels.

"One thing that we will do in Friends of the Earth is we will submit a complaint immediately to the European Commission for infraction," he said.

"We've seen in other countries that these infraction fines can lead to millions of pounds and we will do that reluctantly, but it seems to be the only thing that will wake this government up from its incapacity to deal with public health and the environment."

Prof Lee said the potential fines were "significant".

"They can be daily fines for every day in which the emissions standards are not being administered. There are cases of fines that run to hundreds of thousands of euros a day."

The Driver Vehicle Agency (DVA) said the tests were suspended in 2006 because of health and safety concerns over fumes in the testing halls.

Paul Duffy, the DVA's chief executive, told Spotlight HGVs and buses are being tested using a smoke meter.

He did not explain how they are tested in the same halls without health and safety concerns.

Mr Duffy said the DVA has been working for many years now to fix the problem, with one new centre which will be equipped to do the test opening in Belfast in late 2021.

He added that the DVA "are awaiting funding approval to upgrade the other centres".

Prof Lee warned the failure to test cars in Northern Ireland opened up a serious loophole.

"I think if you were a person that had a failure elsewhere in the UK on the basis of diesel smoke emission and you took your car over to Northern Ireland and had that vehicle tested in the testing station, and gained an MOT certificate, clearly you would take your car to wherever it was - Scotland or wherever it was - you came from and drive the car for another year.

"I don't actually see what stops you as an individual doing that."

You can watch Spotlight on the BBC iplayer