Motorists are booking NCTs which are further away from their locality in order to secure a test.
That's according to a motoring expert as some centres have waiting lists up to six months due to staff shortages and an increase in car sales.
Drogheda has the longest waiting time, with a booking unavailable there until January 31st.
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 a little bit easier.
"But it does very much depend on where you're living and on how your test centre is being managed.
"Now, we do see that some people are getting tests sooner than what they see online but it may be that they are not going to their preferred test centre but one that is close by."
In the South East, the next available dates are in September for Kilkenny, November in both Wexford and Waterford and December in Cahir and Carlow.
Some centres have dates available as early as tomorrow and all figures are subject to change.
Today they are as follows:
Cahir: December 1st 2022
Carlow: December 4th 2022
Enniscorthy: November 30th 2022
Kilkenny: September 2nd 2022
Nenagh: November 9th 2022
Waterford: Novermber 24th 2022
