Sir, – I brought my car for its NCT (nearly completed test) yesterday morning. Local staff were courteous and efficient; no problem there. From the NCT management and Government perspectives, however, the experience was fiasco dressed up as farce. I had to present my car so that it could be issued with a fail certificate, though it passed all available parts of the test. Now I must bring it a second time, yet undetermined, so that it can then be passed. In the meantime I will have no NCT certificate and am advised to bring whatever proof I can in my car to prove to An Garda Síochána that I am not a determined lawbreaker. The RSA adds to the foolishness by stating on its website that a current NCT certificate is essential when taking a driving test. Are we going to see lines of driving test attendees turned away with fail certificates for non-compliance as they cannot get an NCT certificate for their cars? What of those who attempt to tax their cars without a current NCT certificate, where applicable?
Is there no wit in the management of Government, the NCT or the RSA? You cannot blame the innocent applicant for organisational failings. We need a temporary, certified NCT waiver until the NCT can offer the service it is contracted to provide. We need a clear statement that the honest driver will not be inconvenienced by An Garda Síochána for the absence of a certificate they cannot possibly provide.
And we need the heads of the Department of Transport, the NCT and the RSA to explain themselves for the foolishness they have foisted on the long-suffering honest drivers of Ireland. This is more than a matter of inconvenience. It is a question of public confidence in the law being undermined. Ultimately, it is the Government’s responsibility to ensure that the law is respected and is seen to be so. A rebate for all affected drivers paid for by the NCT contractor out of its profits would be a nice gesture as well. – Yours, etc,
DENIS BATES,
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Shannon,
Co Clare.
Sir, – Surely the correct verdict for an incomplete NCT test is “not proven”. To “fail” implies being found to have something positively in breach of the set standards: that is decidedly not the case where the examiner has failed to carry out the prescribed test. If you answer successfully all the questions you are asked, you cannot be said to fail an exam. It is not the candidate’s job to answer questions that the examiner fails to ask. Nor is it the examiner’s entitlement to withhold an award on the basis of questions. Or am I failing the postmodernism test? – Yours, etc,
Dr MICHAEL ANDERSON,
Balgriffin,
Dublin 13.