MoT: Stormont department in court over diesel test claims

A Stormont department is being taken to court over allegations it has failed to fully test the emissions of diesel cars in Northern Ireland.

The case has been taken by Friends of the Earth NI, with the Public Interest Litigation Support Project (PILS)

They claim hundreds of thousands of diesel cars have not received a legally compliant exhaust emissions test at MoT centres.

The government is legally required to do an emissions test on diesel cars.

The case is due in the High Court for a one-day hearing later.

The groups are claiming that the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) is still not carrying out the legally required exhaust emissions test on any diesel cars in Northern Ireland.

Lawyers will argue the Department for Infrastructure has "not only breached its duties under vehicle testing law but also its duties to protect public health and the health of Northern Ireland's biodiversity and wildlife habitats".

In 2018 in response to concerns about emissions testing, the Driver and Vehicle Agency, which is under the umbrella of DfI, said its staff did a "visual test" where they made a "personal judgement" about a car's emissions.

It followed a BBC Spotlight investigation which found the emissions tests had not been carried out for 12 years.

Friends of the Earth NI said it was taking legal proceedings to compel the department to "recommence testing as soon as possible".

PILS director Maria McCloskey said "17 straight years of a failure to comply with the law is completely unacceptable."

"This landmark public interest case is about defending everyone's right to breathe clean air and eradicating a triple threat to public health, natural habitats and biodiversity," she said.

James Orr from Friends of the Earth NI Director said "human health and the health of our environment" was being put at risk.

The Northern Ireland commissioner for children and young people, Chris Quinn, said the organisation had worries over the "serious adverse impact" that poor air quality had on children's health.

The Clean Air NI judicial review will be one of the first cases to rely on the Climate Change Act 2022 in court.