Mr. Alan Nolan:

I can help Mr. Himmer with that. The NCT does not check for NOx. It is not part of the European testing requirement. It tests for CO2, soot and other things. These discussions may change that.

I do not want to downplay NOx emissions and the health issues attached to them. As an industry, we need to find solutions. Research in Europe would suggest that NOx output from the car fleet has reduced by 40% or 50% over a period of about ten or 15 years, at a time when the number of cars has increased by the same number. The situation has improved. In Ireland there have been no issues because we are quite an empty country, other than, I understand, once during 2009 when EPA research showed we came close to having NOx issues. It only affected small areas. I am not downplaying the issue, but because we are a large open country it is not as much of an issue. In 2009 we were at the lowest point of the recession, and the problem had more to do with a lack of maintenance on vehicles, which has an impact, as well as weather conditions.