Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Question 355: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will introduce legislation or regulations to control vehicle modification and his views on whether such changes impact on the validity of an NCT certificate. [19322/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Essentially, the NCT is a check on a vehicle to determine whether it complies with vehicle in-service standards specified in the Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use of Vehicles) Regulations 1963 as amended. While the road traffic code does not contain a specific prohibition on the modification of vehicles, article 34 of the Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use of Vehicles) Regulations 1963 requires that a vehicle, all of its parts and equipment, be maintained in good and efficient working order and to be so maintained that no danger is liable to be caused by it.

Regulating for the control of modifications to the glazing and exhaust systems of motor vehicles give rise to certain complex issues. Before considering legislative changes in relation to these matters, I would first wish to have them examined by the proposed Road Safety Authority on its establishment. In the meantime, one of the recommendations contained in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report on the mid-term review of the NCTS is the establishment of a Technical Standards Forum to consider and make recommendations in relation to vehicle technical matters associated with the NCT. It is my intention to implement that recommendation and, in that context, the matters of excessively "blacked-out" windows and modified exhausts would be referred to the Technical Standards Forum for consideration. The outcome of the work of the proposed Technical Standards Forum on these matters will assist the RSA in advising me in due course on future policy in relation to these matters.