Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
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295. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on whether the current NCT regime is fit for purpose; how he will address current issues with wait times for testing; if he will consider reforming the mandatory completion time for re-tests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8170/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the operation of the National Car Test (NCT) service is the statutory responsibility of the Road Safety Authority. Consequently, as Minister, I have no function in respect of operational matters.

I have referred part of the question regarding vehicle re-testing to the Authority for direct reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.

A significant challenge facing the NCT service is an EU-wide shortage of qualified mechanics. However, Applus, the contractor responsible for delivering the service on behalf of the RSA, has continued to use every opportunity to recruit vehicle inspectors, including availing of a quota whereby inspectors from outside the European Economic Area can be more easily recruited given shortages. The service level agreement target wait time for an NCT is 12 days. As a result of significant recruitment in recent years to increase capacity within the system, this target was achieved in the final quarter of 2024. In total, 1.7 million NCT Tests were completed last year, the highest in the history of the service.

As of mid-February 2025, the current national average wait time is at 16.97 days. This increase is in line with normal seasonal trends, resulting from the disproportionate number of vehicles registered at the beginning of each year, and is expected to work its way through the system shortly.