NCT test pass rates falling

The percentage of vehicles passing the NCT the first time fell 13 per cent to less than half over the last four years, according to new figures released by the Department of Transport.

Forty-nine per cent of vehicles passed the test first time last year down from 62 per cent in 2001, the Department's Annual Report for 2005 shows.

According to the NCTS, the pass rate up to 2003 was "artificially high" because a mechanism known as "fail advisory" allowed a car with a minor fault to pass with a recommendation that the problem be fixed. In 2000 only 3.8 per cent of cars passed without a "fail advisory" note. This provision was removed in 2003. Motorists are also increasingly using the test as a diagnostic, contributing to the higher failure rate, the firm said.

This week NCTS Ltd also revealed its after-tax operating profit for last year fell by more than 8 per cent to €5.1 million. The company earned almost €31m last year, carrying out 624,619 tests and 308,701 retests. The cost of a test is €49 and a retest is €27.50. The company said rising wage costs - which rose 7.7 per cent last year - were responsible for the drop in profits. In its financial returns, the firm's auditors note NCTS is "primarily dependent" on its ten-year car testing contract. However, the company is shortly due to sign a contract to provide up to 45,000 driving tests for the Department of Transport.

Representatives of the NCTS will meet with the board of the Road Safety Authority and the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen tomorrow to discuss plans for the privatised tests. The findings of an unpublished mid-term review of the NCT service is also expected to be discussed.

This review makes 19 recommendations, including the establishment of a new car testing centre on the Inishowen peninsula bringing the number nationwide to 44.

Instead, the authors of the report, PricewaterhouseCoopers, suggest establishing a committee of gardai and members of the motor industry chaired by the Department to examine which car modifications will be allowed and to advise the Minister on any future changes to the test. The Minister has accepted the recommendations and they will come into force by January 2007.

The recommendations also provide for internet bookings, removing the requirement to check wheel nuts and a further investigation of the reasons for customer dissatisfaction.

While 86.3 per cent of motorists questioned for the review said they were satisfied with the operation of the car test, a number of customer concerns were identified. These included frustration at failing for minor items not directly linked to road safety, such as a number plate not having the county name in Irish. In future all test centres will have a free sticker with the county name to put on registration plates to meet this legal requirement.

Complaints about rudeness from NCTS staff were addressed as well as costs.

PwC compared the NCTS to services in 16 other countries. In value for money terms this found the NCT cost less than the European average although it noted that only in Latvia was car testing provided on the basis of an exclusive contract.