Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for attending and congratulate him on his change of portfolio. I wish him well in his new posting. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating this opportunity on the Adjournment.

I understand the contract for the carrying out of the vehicle testing function will expire in 2009 and will be advertised for tender prior to that date. A mid-term review was scheduled for January 2006. Will the Minister of State clarify the position and advise when the details of that review will be made known and whether they will be placed in the public arena? Will the Minister of State outline the changes he intends to make to the existing terms of reference and guidelines, if any exist, by which future providers of the NCT service will have to abide? Can changes be introduced now on foot of the mid-term review? What is the view of the Minister of State and the Department of Transport on the service that has been offered by the current holders of the contract? Is the Minister of State aware that the existing operators of the NCT centres have imposed a target fail rate of 50% or more of the cars which are presented for the test? The target is even higher for older cars. Does the Minister of State consider that the operators' approach to their business is fair and acceptable? Should each vehicle that is presented for the test not be considered equally and fairly? Should a decision on whether to present an NCT certificate not be based on a car's overall roadworthiness? Is it not the case that car testers are under pressure to meet the target fail rates which are set by the company that employs them? Is it not likely that some cars which might otherwise pass the test are failed so that the imposed targets are met?

The Department of Transport indicated to a Sunday newspaper in July 2005 that it intended to investigate the case of a car that had been passed by an NCT centre before being failed by another centre. An independent test on the car in question, which was carried out by a Dublin dealership garage, found that the car was "in a highly dangerous condition." What does the Minister of State know about that high profile case? Is the Minister of State aware of the highly questionable dismissal by National Car Testing Service Limited of three people who were employed at a testing centre in Monaghan? Is he aware that a tester in Monaghan had deemed the car I have mentioned to be unroadworthy? Is he aware that the three people in question are viewed by everyone in their community as scrupulously honest? I understand that the fail percentage of the employee who failed the car in question was in the low 40s.

Is the Minister of State aware that the three men, two of whom have worked with the company for more than four years, were dismissed on the basis of a spurious claim of gross misconduct? It is alleged that one employee was signed off early one evening by another of the three men, who was the team leader. The employee who left early, who had a legitimate reason for doing so, performed a specific task on behalf of the company on the evening in question — he took a bank lodgment to the bank. Does the Minister of State share my concerns about these matters? Is he prepared to make appropriate inquiries? Will he undertake to return to me on these matters when he is in a position to do so?

I appreciate that the Minister of State's prepared response may not reflect on many of the points I have raised this evening, but I appeal to him to recognise the seriousness of these matters and to investigate the relevant issues accordingly. I thank him for his attention and look forward to receiving a fuller reply from him when he has had an opportunity to examine these matters in the coming weeks.

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