Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

One point I should have mentioned in my previous reply to Deputy Keating is that performance was measured at 92% which was ahead of the target of 90%.

The issue of people receiving notice of renewal has come up several times and was mentioned in committee recently. Consequently, I have undertaken to make contact with the Road Safety Authority and the company to ascertain whether a system of notification of renewal can be introduced similar to that in place, for example, for driving licences.

As for sanctions, in some cases staff have been dismissed or suspended in respect of what was revealed on "Prime Time Investigates". I am confident that Applus has acted in these cases. The only sanctions that can be applied to the company arise when it fails to meet performance standards in respect of waiting times for test appointments, as well as at the different test centres. If that occurs, a performance-related financial adjustment is made to their payment. In 2010, a downward adjustment was made to their contract for their failure to meet some of the required targets

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