Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that. Like my colleagues, I also want to mention the fact that there is a problem in the car rental sector and car providers that must be examined. I will not rehash it, but previous speakers outlined the difficulties in the sector. I got a letter from one of those companies and I got a response from the RSA to it. The response from the RSA effectively said: this is a problem, we have delays, we are overworked, we are overburdened and the company would have to sit in the queue the same as everybody else. This is a vital sector in the economy and I suggest that the RSA should meet with it, sit down and see if they can come to an arrangement and agreement with them to process the vehicles a bit quicker. In fairness, I believe they merit special attention. There must be some way that the RSA can expedite matters.

I also wish to ask about the database and the Garda authorities. Could Mr. Waide explain to us how that works? Questions were asked earlier about the 31,600 who are waiting and the 355,000 who are in the queue. I am aware from some of my constituents that not all gardaí are taking a lenient view and tickets and penalty points are being issued to people who through no fault of their own do not have an NCT test. What information are the gardaí getting when they go to the RSA database?