Thanks for the reply. So you just never need to take the skills test? But you have to have done the training anyway. May as well do the skills test and then you've got it if it's on the table I guess?
Indeed, you never need to do the MEP skills test, or get it issued. It does make the MEIR pretty useless, but to be honest I never once use my MEP rating after my test, it was a good experience though and not actually all that expensive in the grand scheme of things.
At least for me that rating is now sitting on the back of the licence should I ever need to get it back, rather than never having held it at all.
Sometimes in flight training it's tough to justify the costs of extra tests, you can't really compare your costs to anything in real life as they're all completely ridiculous. I find non-pilot friends never understand the ridiculous amount I would spend to sit in a ageing twin for two hours without even being able to enjoy the view.