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

The Senator asked if the legislative basis for congestion charge already exists. This Bill does not create the ability to do it. Most of the discussion on congestion charging and multi-point tolling focuses on the M50. I have said that until we substantially expand our public transport capacity, we would not be in favour of changing that and introducing a new tolling regime. Given that, I have not made any provision on that area in the Bill.

The Senator asked what could cause a vehicle to fail its NCT. It could well be a lightbulb. The NCT requires that a vehicle meets a variety of requirements in order to qualify for a certificate. The change to the appeals mechanism over NCT certificates was mentioned earlier. The Bill makes a change in that regard. It became apparent to the NTA under the operation of the current regime that were a vehicle to fail, the licence would still be valid during the period in which the appeal would take place. Such a vehicle should not be on the road because it has failed its NCT. If during the period of appeal the vehicle is still on the road, that is clearly a problem. The Bill changes that appeal mechanism.