Motorists spend €30 million on NCT tests

IRISH motorists spent €30 million sitting the National Car Test last year, with half of all drivers failing at the first attempt.

In addition, a further 297,380 cars had to do a retest, for which the standard charge is €27.20. If all these motorists had to pay the retest fee, this would add a further €8m to the bill.

Not all motorists have to pay a retest fee. In some cases, a visual re-examination of the car suffices.

This stealth tax is in addition to the €2,380 every Irish motorist pays on average each year in car-related taxes to stay on the road.

Taxes from the motor industry contributed just over 12% of all Exchequer returns last year, one of the highest levels of any EU member state.

Irish NCT failure rates are at their highest since the obligatory exam was introduced in 2000. Last year, 614,227 cars tested, with only 51% passing. Those 614,227 motorists each paid €48.40 for the first test.

The number of cars which fail the test has also increased from just 38% in 2001 to 49% last year. The corresponding failure rate in the MOT test in Britain was less than 30% in 2004.

One of the most frequent failure items in Ireland were registration plates which are unlikely to have a major impact on the safety of vehicles. The NCTS has been criticised for failing thousands of cars because of the condition of the registration plate, including in some cases for not having the name of the county in Irish.

The three main reasons for failing the test in 2004 were bodywork, headlight alignment and registration plates.

A review of NCTS was ordered by the Department of Transport in December. However, this will not specifically look at failure rates.

It will only examine issues such as the location and number of test centres and quality of service. The review, which will include a public consultation, is scheduled for completion by the summer.

Results from tests in 2004 show 10% of over 297,000 vehicles failed the retest.

It means almost 30,000 vehicles on our roads did not meet basic safety standards and could have potentially dangerous defects.

Under the NCT, vehicles face 57 tests including brakes, exhaust emissions, tyres, lights, steering, suspension, electrical systems, glass and mirrors.