AA calls for Government to tackle times of peak NCT demand

The AA is calling for the Government to tackle peak periods of NCT demand.

The call comes a day after Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe announced a round of special measures to tackle a surge in numbers following changes to the penalty points system.

Instead of a court summons and penalty points, drivers who don't have a valid NCT now face a fixed charge penalty notice and a fine.

Conor Faughnan of the AA said something should be done to cut down on the annual surge in applications at the beginning of each year.

"It really seems wasteful that the NCT does (around) 550,000 tests per annum and that so munch of that demand gets lumped into quarter one," he said.

"It has to be possible to spread that out…They've got to do something long-term."