‘Release NCT report to grieving mother’

The minister for data protection has accused the National Car Testing Service (NCTS) of flying in the face of the spirit of data protection law by refusing to release NCT results to a mother whose daughter died driving a defective car.

Minister of State, Dara Murphy, said he can see no reason why the NCTS can’t release the information to Paula Murphy, whose plight was highlighted in the Irish Examiner yesterday.

“It appears to me that the NCTS is using data protection legislation to stop someone getting what they should be entitled to,” he said.

“Data protection laws exist to protect the distribution of someone’s personal data to third parties.

“Public bodies should not seek to use data protection legislation to prevent individuals and relatives of individuals from seeking information.

“I can see no reason why the request of this family member should not be acceded to.”

Ms Murphy spoke yesterday of her anguish at being refused access to the report, which could shed new light on what caused the crash.

Her daughter, Amanda O’Flaherty, 26, suffered devastating injuries in a two-vehicle crash near Cobh on December 29, 2012, and died the following day.

An inquest heard that the 95-D registered Mazda 121 she was driving that night was not roadworthy.

A Garda inspector found defects in its rear suspension which would have made the vehicle unstable before and during cornering.

Amanda bought the car six months earlier from a man in Cork for €600, who arranged for it to undergo an NCT just days earlier.

But it subsequently emerged that he was not the registered owner of the car at the time of the test.

The NCTS said data protection laws prevent it from releasing the NCT results sheet to anyone other than the registered owner.

The man who sold the car to Amanda says he cannot remember who the registered owner was.