Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----the type of cars being tested are very much the same. This matter must be investigated because there has to be a reason for the level of variation. I ask the Minister to ensure that the position is examined.

The national car test is mandatory for cars which are more than three years old. The levies relating to the test has risen sharply in recent years, with a full test costing €55 and a retest €28. Obviously, this is quite lucrative for the Government. In 2013, tests were carried out on a record 1.17 million private cars.When the NCT was introduced in 2000, only 309,000 tests were undertaken. At that time the pass rate for drivers on their first attempt was only 4% compared with 70% in 2013. That is a good sign and an improvement which means people are realising that their vehicles must be fit for purpose. Most drivers get them well-serviced prior to going for their NCT. If the NCT system were not in place, it is likely that many of those drivers would not bother to get their cars serviced, rather they would wait for something to fall off their cars first.

The question of gardaí having some discretion in dealing with drivers who do not have a current NCT disc displayed on their cars needs to be teased out. As we all know, gardaí have enough troubles in dealing with discretionary activities in terms of the cancelling of penalty points and so on. It puts them in an unfair position to have to decide whether a chap should be prosecuted for not displaying a current NCT disc, even though he may have a letter indicating that his application is in a queue and that his car will not be tested for up to perhaps a month. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the owner and user of the vehicle to ensure that their vehicle is in compliance with the law. The Garda would need direction on this. As the Minister stated, the first quarter of the year is always the busiest time for car sales and everything related to cars and we hope that the numbers for testing will even out a little now. For instance, in the week commencing 24 November last year, a total of 25,000 tests were carried out and, of those, 9,000 were late or very late, meaning that their due test date was a date in the past. A further 1,450 related to tests that should have been carried out in 2013 and 13,200 of these were early compliant requests, that is, as has been encouraged by the Minister, to take advantage of the facility instituted in September.