Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman. In a break with tradition, I wish to first acknowledge the presence of Sarah Davis-Goff and Lisa Coen in the Public Gallery today, founders of Tramp Press, a new publishing company that has only been up and running for a short while. They have been publishing novels by new Irish writers. They are in the House this afternoon because I will be using some of their books when I am launching my St. Patrick's Day programme. I will be presenting their books as an example of new Irish writing and culture to people I will be meeting next week. I wish them the very best of luck in their endeavours. They got involved in publishing books by Irish writers at a time of difficulty and I wish them every success with their endeavours in the years to come.

I will now move from that literary note to the reason I am here. In December last, when dealing with the Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2014, I undertook to come back to this House for a discussion on the National Car Testing Service, NCTS, its centres and their operation. As Senators will recall, we had just made a number of changes to road traffic law including the introduction of some new penalty point offences under the Road Traffic Act 2014. Those changes came into effect on 8 December last. Before focusing on those changes and their consequences, I would like to give the House an update on the position with regard to general matters of road safety.

I am sad to say that last year was the second consecutive year in which there was an increase in the number of fatalities on our roads. While we can all agree that the penalty points system has played an important role in making our roads safer, the number of people losing their lives on our roads is still too high. During the 1970s, road fatalities averaged 50 per month. The situation improved somewhat over the 1980s and 1990s but road deaths still stood at over 400 in 2001, the year prior to the introduction of penalty points. Last year, this tragic statistic stood at 197. I am very conscious of the fact that progress is a word that we must use very carefully, given the unacceptably high number of people who lose their lives on our roads. We are still in pursuit of the culture change that is necessary to eliminate death and serious injuries on our roads. For example, it is almost beyond comprehension that some people still see nothing wrong with driving without a seat belt. Among one of the most depressing statistics of last year was the fact that almost one fifth of the drivers and passengers killed on our roads were not wearing seat belts. Furthermore, while we have made substantial progress since the days of casual acceptance of drink driving, hundreds are still arrested every month on suspicion of drink driving. Clearly, the human capacity for self-deception and the tragic consequences that flow from continuing careless and reckless behaviour cannot be underestimated.

The NCTS has made a significant contribution to road safety in this country since its introduction 15 years ago. The days of having large numbers of unsafe vehicles using our roads are largely gone as cars are tested to the highest international standards. In recent weeks Senators will have received an update from the Road Safety Authority, RSA, on road safety matters in 2014 and an outline of some of the authority's priorities for the current year. I mentioned earlier that prior to the most recent changes to the penalty points regime last December, it was already an offence to use a vehicle on public roads without a valid NCT certificate. That offence has been in place since 2009 and involved a direct summons to court and the assignment of five penalty points on conviction. The change that I introduced in December simply brought this offence within the fixed-charge notice system and actually reduced the number of penalty points to three on payment of the €60 fixed charge. Of course, it remains the case that drivers continue to have the option of going to court where the five points will still apply on conviction. There was no change to the fact that it was, and remains, an offence but the change to the fixed-charge notice system should be welcomed by motorists. It is now possible to pay a fixed-charge fine and receive lower penalty points than are applicable on conviction in court.

Senators will be aware that the first quarter is traditionally the busiest time for the NCTS because the majority of cars are purchased in the first few months of any year. The vast majority of people take their responsibilities seriously and have their cars tested prior to the expiry of their current NCT certificate. However, many others have been late in doing so. Although well over 90% get their tests carried out eventually, the RSA estimates that over 200,000 cars out of a national fleet of around 1.9 million have an out-of-date NCT certificate at any time. The publicity around the introduction of fixed-charge notices for NCT certificates has undoubtedly had the benefit of improving the timeliness of testing and I understand from the RSA that it is seeing a substantial improvement in on-time compliance as a result. During the week commencing February 16, for example, 41% of the cars tested were tested early and 29% within 30 days of their test due date. However, 30% of the cars tested that week were late for their test. I am informed that we have never had such high levels of on-time compliance previously in the history of NCTS. Even as recently as early December, when the penalty points changes were introduced, 41% of cars were presented late for their test. Compared to this time last year, there has been a 100% improvement in compliance and this will undoubtedly contribute to improved safety on our roads.

It is good news for road safety that more cars are now having their roadworthiness test earlier. As evidence of this, in the last three months of 2014 approximately 56,000 more cars were tested than in the same period the previous year, an increase of 26%. This increase has been accommodated by NCTS. In January last, the NCTS recruited over 65 additional vehicle inspectors and it has increased its call centre staff by over 50% compared to last year. It is flexible in its deployment of staff who work longer hours during this busy period. To facilitate motorists, tests may be booked up to 90 days in advance of the test due date without affecting the expiry date of the certificate issued. The RSA has been encouraging customers to use this advance booking option. Over 90,000 people whose test was due in January 2015 heeded this advice, took advantage of this facility and got their cars tested during the final quarter of last year. However, the RSA concedes that there have been difficulties with the online booking system during periods of high demand. Last year, over one third of customers booked their NCT test online but this has now fallen to around 20%. The difficulty in finding suitable test slots online has created the mistaken impression that there are no test slots available.This, in turn, is what gave rise to confusion among the public that the system was bunged up and claims in the media of three-month waiting lists. That was never the case for the vast majority of owners.

As the RSA's recent letter to public representatives explains, the NCT online booking system does not provide a full picture of test availability. Anyone who cannot find a suitable appointment online is advised to request a test booking by making direct contact with the NCTS, either by phoning the call centre directly or by logging a request through the website. Such an individual will be put on the priority list for a test and can expect to be contacted within ten to 14 days with an appointment. In the vast majority of cases - well over 90% - that appointment will fall inside 28 days of the day the person first contacted the NCTS. The facility to request an appointment online, as an alternative to phoning the call centre, has already been added to the NCTS website and I expect further improvements in the coming weeks. It stands to reason that people who leave it until the last minute to book a test cannot expect to be instantly accommodated.

The NCTS is currently introducing a number of further measures to improve service to customers. These include the provision of new test lanes in four test centres and the extension of opening hours at a number of others, including Galway, Ballina, Enniscorthy and Killarney, from 7 a.m. to 11.30 p.m. four days per week. The majority of test centres have late openings on three days per week until 10 p.m. and 20 centres have extended opening on four days per week. As stated earlier, the number of vehicle inspectors, at 580, is the highest ever in the history of NCT. Additional staff and facilities have also been put in place to deal with the level of demand relating to the call centre. This has ensured that, following a challenging few days at the beginning of the year, the normal high service levels that customers expect are being achieved again. A further innovation that was introduced yesterday is the provision, for four days each week, of the first 24-hour NCT service in test centres in Dublin and Cork. In Dublin, this service will be shared between the test centres at Northpoint and Deansgrange. In Cork, it will be provided at the centre in Little Island. This new facility will also be available for anyone requiring an urgent appointment. NCTS already offers a seven-days-per-week service, and in many cases for 17 hours each day, at the vast majority of test centres. I very much welcome these initiatives.

Our public services need to be responsive and as flexible as possible and facilitate people outside of the normal nine-to-five model. However, all customers seeking tests, including those who have left it late and require an early test, will be accommodated in the coming weeks. Anyone who has a test date further out and who needs an earlier test should contact NCTS again and ask for a suitable appointment. The advice from the RSA and the NCTS to customers remains the same - one should book early for the test and keep one's car roadworthy at all times. If someone needs an earlier test, he or she should contact the NCTS directly again and ask for a suitable appointment.

Before concluding, I wish to briefly mention the forthcoming new road traffic Bill. The principal focus of this legislation will be on the testing of drivers for intoxication due to the use of drugs. In line with the Government's policy on pre-legislative scrutiny, I forwarded the general scheme of the Bill to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications last week. I look forward to the outcome of the committee's consideration of these important proposals.

Safety on our roads is not just my responsibility or that of the Government. Everybody - drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians - all have a responsibility in this regard. Changing the culture of careless or reckless behaviour remains the biggest challenge in eliminating deaths and serious injuries on our roads. I thank the Seanad for giving me the opportunity to address it today and honour the commitment I made. I look forward to the contributions and questions of Senators.