Mr. Brendan Walsh:

We do not have the authority to take the vehicle off the road but the owner is immediately notified by the inspector within the NCT centre that the vehicle should not be driven and that they should make arrangements to bring it to a proper repairer. What often happens, however, is that they will drive it to a repairing agent and we do not have the ability of preventing that or putting a lien on the vehicle, because it is purely an inspection. The information is provided to the customer and it is for the customer to get the vehicle repaired but what will happen is they will not receive an NCT certificate. The majority of people, perhaps 99% of them, would obviously take some information like that about the vehicle they are driving to be very serious and they would seek to have an immediate remedy carried out. As for the 3,200 vehicles that were ultimately destroyed, the vehicle would have been brought to a workshop and deemed an uneconomical repair where the vehicle was too old for the repair that was to be carried out, and that would be a decision for the customer. Fundamentally, if you do not have your vehicle tested, you will be in breach and you are not going to get an NCT certificate unless the vehicle is in a satisfactory and roadworthy condition at the time of presenting for a test or retest.