CEO of the Road Safety Authority Sam Waide has admitted there are "unacceptable delays" in the National Car Testing service.
Mr Waide told the Oireachtas Transport Committee there are almost 356,000 vehicles across the country that are in need of an NCT in the next 90 days.
A further 31,605 are on a priority waiting list with the testing service.
He said the said the average lead time is 24.5 days, double the pre pandemic wait time of 12 days.
However, a number of members of the committee pointed to wait times in their local areas which are in excess of three months.
Fianna Fáil TD James O'Connor said the earliest available test he was offered at his local centre in Youghal is in April 2023.
Mr Waide said the NCT service is in the process of bringing in mechanics from Spain and the Philippines to help deal with the backlog.
"Over the past two years, despite regular recruitment campaigns, NCTS has found it increasingly difficult to recruit sufficiently qualified (QQI level 6) mechanics as vehicle inspectors to meet the demand," he told the committe.
"This is an issue that has also affected the wider motor industry. The NCTS is now in the process of transferring 22 staff from its Spanish operations into test centres which are most under pressure.
"A further 44 recruits from the Philippines have obtained work permits and their applications for visas are currently being processed."
Chief Operations Officer with the RSA Brendan Walsh said they currently have 552 testers and are adding in 66 from Spain and the Philippines, but 115 are required overall to reach a total of 615 staff.
He said it will be the second quarter of next year before they will be down to a wait time of 12 days.
Mr Walsh also pointed to difficulties with people not turning up for tests they have booked and others not being fully prepared for the test.
"There were 28,000 tests last week and around 2,000 were no shows," he said.
"This means 7% of our capacity could not be utilised."
He said some people use the NCT as a means of finding out what is wrong with their car.
"Forty-percent of vehicles have fail items. People make the journey to see when needs to be done and then go to the garage for repairs ... I would love to see a higher pass rate. It would mean the vehicles have been properly maintained through their local mechanic.
"I would like to educate the consumers on this and it would help with our capacity problem. It will also ensure we have proper safe vehicles driving around the country."
Under questioning from the committee, Chairman Kieran O'Donnell Mr Walsh admitted he cannot justify the wait times.
Both the CEO and COO of the RSA agreed to talk to Applus, the company that operates the NCT on behalf of the RSA, to see if the recruitment process can be fast tracked.
Earlier, Mr Waide told the committee that Insurance Ireland had confirmed that its members will be "pragmatic and understanding" in their approach to the current delays.
"Cover will continue to be provided where customers, through no fault of their own, are unable to obtain their NCT due to backlogs at test centres," he said.
He also advised that customers should carry proof of their test booking confirmation to produce to a member of An Garda Síochána if required.
