Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not understand his reluctance. I did not hear the Minister's response to this issue on Second Stage and look forward to hearing his reply. I hope there is a fair way of addressing the matter.

I wish to say to Senator O'Neill that I was not referring to people only applying for a test the day beforehand. As I said, there is a four month delay. There are people who try to book an NCT test two months in advance but cannot get an appointment before their test which is unfair. By any objective measure that is unfair. I appreciate if the Minister is taking measures to address the problem. My difficulty was that if someone shows the Garda that he or she booked a month or two ago would they still have to wait another three or four weeks. It should count for something but under the existing system it does not which is unfair. I am not suggesting that people should be able to get a test at two or three days notice.

Senator O'Neill gave the examples of road tax and road insurance but one does not have to pay either four months in advance or pick a particular date a month in advance that is suits one's work schedule and everything else. We need to provide people with a decent and efficient NCT service. People pay for it at the end of the day and it is a commercial service. Therefore, people are entitled to a service that is fair and consistent.

We have all received complains which are more than anecdotal about inconsistencies between centres and individual testers. In the same centre people are often failed for things they think are insignificant. People must have faith in the system, feel that the job is done right and that it is effective. People pay for this service but there is no other service where one expects to wait four months for a service. That is the reason this issue is worth discussing. I welcome the opportunity to hear the Minister's response about his efforts to reduce the delay.