From all his friends in the Irish Drivers Association

The Irish Driver’s Association have decided to legally challenge vehicle registration tax (VRT) under the Treaty of Rome in addition to section 140 of the 1992 Finance Act (which gives effect to VRT on new and imported vehicles into the state). It is our understanding that VRT is an import/customs duty in disguise under Articles 25 and 90 of the Treaty of Rome. The Irish Drivers Association believes that this is a prohibited tax under the Treaty and as citizens of this state, we prohibited this tax when we agreed to join the EU by passing the 1972 referendum.

We would like to point out that regardless of what name is attached to this tax, VRT is by its very nature a customs duty. It is charged within 24 hours of the vehicle arriving within the jurisdiction and is triggered by the fact that it has crossed a border and by possession of the vehicle alone. Borders between EU states do not exist in terms of the single European Market (Article 14.2). This tax impedes the free movement of goods and in doing so breaches a fundamental objective of the EU. In other words changing the name does not alter the nature of the tax. If the government considers this not to be a customs duty why is there a requirement to pay VRT within 24 hours even if the vehicle may not be used for months?

The Association are already challenging the unlawful seizure of citizens’ vehicles related to VRT as this infringes their Constitutional rights to own property already lawfully acquired under Article 15 and Article 43 of the Irish Constitution. In addition it breaches the principle of proportionality which also interferes with the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions. Principle of proportionality means that the states actions must be in proportion to the alleged offence. A car worth € 25,000 shouldn’t be seized for non payment of a (dubious) tax of say € 4,000.

The effect of VRT implemented by the 1992 Finance Act circumvented an EU prohibition on customs duty (Article 25). Customs duty on vehicles disappeared on the 31st December 1992 and the following day a new tax called VRT replaced it. This was brought about by the action of the people you voted for, our Oireachtas and effectively overrode EU law. This it cannot do because EU law is supreme in terms of community matters and in the promotion of free movement of goods, fundamental freedoms under the Treaty of Rome and the implementation of the Single European Market.

The prohibition of customs duties had effect from the 1st of January 1973. Derogations (Opt out clauses) were sought whereby the Irish Government conspired with the EU to defraud their citizens and for what reason – only to continue by improper means the charging of a prohibited customs duty. The Treaty Article 25 itself contains no provisions for derogations so it would appear derogations were conjured up to continue to defraud Irish citizens. What was the purpose of writing Article 25 if it can be undermined, circumvented and effectively made nugatory by a finance act which interferes with our EC Law rights and what was the purpose of joining the EU if we were to be denied the full benefits of membership?

For these reasons and others The Irish Drivers Association feels that it is necessary to challenge VRT and restore our fundamental rights under both EU law and Irish Constitutional Law. We would welcome donations from existing and new members to help us in this cause as it would benefit all motorists and citizens with a vested interest in seeking a positive outcome, we thank you for any support that can help us achieve our aim. Receipts will be given for all donations received.

Donations/Contributions can be made to:
IRISH DRIVERS ASSOCIATION VRT CHALLENGE FUND
Bank: ULSTER BANK, O’Connell Square, Ennis, Co. Clare
Bank sort code: 98-56-80 Account number: 10078581
For further information please contact any of the following Association officers or send donations to Irish Drivers Association, Aughalina House, 55 Gallows Hill, Ennis, Co. Clare
John Lernihan (Chairman) 087 2509123
David Russell (Secretary) 087 2312250
John Doherty (Chairman Donegal Branch) 086 8789925

The following is a copy of the letter:

Irish Drivers Association:    To all members of the Northern Ireland assembly.

Dear Sir or Madam.

The Irish Drivers Association was set up in the 26 counties in order to protect and advance the voice of the Irish motorist. Of late we have been approached by citizens from the 6 Counties who seem to be encountering some trouble with Irish customs and Gardai when entering the 26 counties.  This would be people that would have holiday homes or places of business south of the border. We have had several complaints from 6 county residents about being harassed and intimidated  about their place of permanent residence. Most people have been told that they are liable to pay VRT/ CUSTOMS duty on their vehicles. In most cases they end up having their vehicle seized on the road side. We have garage owners that have given out courtesy cars to people in the south while their vehicle is been repaired north of the border having their vehicles seized. This problem now seems to be getting out of hand and we think that it might be time for some intervention on your behalf. As you are aware we are all Europeans and were guaranteed the freedom of movement under article 39 of the treaty of Rome.

The Irish government is collecting a prohibited tax under article 25 of the treaty of Rome, Which prohibits customs duties and taxes to the equivalent effect. VRT is a re-labelled customs duty which was introduced under the 1992 finance act in the 26 counties when the EU put pressure on our government that they had to drop customs duties on vehicles as they were taxing a product of another member state. As you will understand if  someone from the six counties buys their vehicle south of the border there is no such thing as customs duty/vrt to take that vehicle north of the border. So again you will understand it is impossible for citizens south of the border to purchase a vehicle north of the border as your product is carrying a customs duty as high as 36 %. By having this levy lifted from your vehicles not alone will you be helping your constituents but you will be boosting the car trade in NI and so boosting your local economy. Perhaps a letter to the relevant ministers like Brian Lenihan Minister for finance and our foreign affairs minister and the minister for justice and bring it to their attentions the level of harassment your constituents are under going when entering the south and also the interference with the single European market.

Thanking you for your time and hoping we can be of some help to each other.

John Doherty Donegal branch chairman.086 8789925

John  Lernihan President and founder.  087 2509123

Dave Russell Secretary.  087 2312250

www.irishdrivers.org

Our main efforts are being currently concentrated on a concerted campaign to have VRT abolished. Our committee continue to meet with Government representatives in order to get our points across.

• The Irish Government has been asked by the European Commission to abolish VRT. So far, they have refused.
• We believe that the imposition of VRT on Irish citizens is illegal under Article 25 of the Treaty of Rome.
• Abolishing VRT would result in greater new car sales, replacing the lost revenue.
• Our national car fleet would be newer and safer if VRT were abolished.
• Irish car prices are at least 30% higher than most other EU states.
• VRT is applied to the after VAT price of a new car, effectively creating a double tax hit.
• Motorists contribute nearly four billion euro to the exchequer each year, yet we do not receive the services that this huge taxation should entitle us to.
• While we support the penalty points system, it contains many anomalies which need to be addressed.
• The imposition of penalty points is a serious matter with long term consequences. Points are imposed on drivers detected doing 31 mph in a 30 mph zone. The penalty would be exactly the same if they were doing 45 mph.
• A speeding offence results in a fine and penalty points. A further penalty may be imposed by insurance companies, effectively punishing a driver three times for the same offence.
• The government propose handing driver’s details directly to insurance companies. We believe this is illegal.
• The NCT test, while useful in keeping bangers off the road, also needs to be modified.
• The Irish Drivers Association wants to take a stand against the exploitation of the Irish motorist.

We are now a nationwide organisation to give Irish drivers a voice.

We would like to bring to your attention, the unwarranted and unconstitutional interference by Gardai at the illegal seizure and/or detention of citizens’ property, namely vehicles, particularly in border counties and throughout this Nation.

We would like to inform you that every citizen in this country including yourself and the Gardai has property rights recognised by the State under Article 43 of the Irish Constitution. By dispossessing citizen’s of their property vis a vis VRT/alleged owing of monies to the State, the effect of this is to breach peoples Constitutional rights to their property, interferes with the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions and in particular, and on every occasion, breaches the Principle of Proportionality which is not only recognised by the Supreme Court of Ireland and implicit in our own Constitution but is also a European Law right and a principle enshrined under the Treaty of Rome and the relevant Treaty Articles concerning the Free Movement of Goods and the Free Movement of Persons.

Every Irish citizen in this State, is entitled to due process to have their case heard in a court of law. It appears that Gardai are circumventing and undermining citizen’s rights by disregarding their Constitutional and EC Law rights and further compounding this disregard by omitting to take into consideration the constitutional requirement of due process. Only a court of law can direct the dispossession of a citizen’s property by means of a court order permitting such ‘dispossession’ and then only after the citizen has been given the opportunity of being heard.

We would appreciate a meeting with your good self in relation to discussing these serious matters. It is suggested by this Association’s members that consideration will be given to Court action against the Gardai should this situation continue unabated. We respectfully suggest that you ‘instruct’ the Nations’ Gardai that they are not entitled to take, seize, dispossess or otherwise interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of possessions of citizens where their property is concerned and lawfully owned, for we are extremely concerned that certain Inspectors and Superintendents appear to be under the false illusion that our Constitutional and EC Law rights have no effect, unless enacted by an Act of the Oireachtas.

We respectfully notify you that The Irish Constitution is superior to any Act of the Oireachtas and no Act can be enacted which is repugnant to our Constitutional rights. Furthermore, EC Law rights are part of Irish Law by virtue of the 1972 referendum on the Treaty of Rome which amended Article 29.4 of the Irish Constitution and where the formalities of this were competed as a result of the 1972 European Communities Act which have entrenched these property rights under guaranteed fundamental freedoms and as such cannot be interfered with.

We expect the Gardai to respect peoples’ property rights rather than attempt to dispossess them of their property and we are entitled to the protection of the Gardai as such. Failure to respect citizens’ property rights is likely to cause a serious loss of respect for the Gardai of which we have been informed by our members and the public in general. As servants of the State and the citizens, we expect and anticipate that our property rights will be vindicated.

Please respond soonest, as opposed to simply an acknowledgment of our letter and please indicate when a suitable date can be arranged for a constructive discussion on this matter. A copy of this letter will also be forwarded to the Minister for Justice.

E & OE.

Yours Faithfully,
……………………….
David Russell
National Secretary, Irish Drivers Association.
087 231 2250.

John Lernihan
National Chairman, Irish Drivers Association.
087 2509 123

Since this test was implemented approximately 7 years ago, it is the opinion of this Association that the Department of Transport by failing to listen to the Association and have wasted millions of litres of fuel, damaged our environment, wasted work days and bringing people on long journeys including damage to our roads in the process and then have the arrogance to blame the motorist for polluting the environment when they themselves are contributing to this unwarranted damage by the imposition of NCT when Directive 96/96 was introduced by the EU to test cars by stating in particular that local reputable garages who also service cars are also entitled to be vehicle tester inspectors in accordance with the provisions of Article 2 of Directive 96/96 to which the Government have failed to give effect. By creating NCT, a monopoly sponsored scenario has been created, limiting the choice of the consumer and stifling competition.

Despite being advised by the Competitions Authority in 1998, not to go down this road, they have failed to listen to both the ‘warnings’ of the Competition Authority and to the Association and to the citizens. We have had many complaints throughout the country in the past 12 months alone.

It is clear that this Company are ‘frauding’ or attempting to ‘fraud’ and deceive the Irish motorist as we feel that this would not happen if the Directive was implemented more satisfactorily by implementing the provisions of allowing one’s local reputable garage to perform this test in conjunction with the normal servicing of a car thereby avoiding the aforementioned damage and pollution to the environment etc.

For example: A motorist living in Kilbaha, Co.Clare, has to take a day off to comply with this NCT test and travel 70 kilometres to Ennis, Co.Clare, to have this test performed. Should the car fail on a minor item of which there are approximately 385 ways of failing, he or she has to travel back to Kilbaha to his local garage for the item to be rectified. He then has to travel another day back to Ennis, to NCT to conduct the test again. This is a waste of approximately 280 kilometres of fuel, damage to our roads and damage to the environment and a waste of working days. This is also occurring in counties such as Cork, Kerry, Galway, Mayo and Donegal when the test could be conducted at a local reputable garage as provided for in Article 2 of Directive 96/96. The EU used the words ‘in particular’ in relation to local garages who also service cars/vehicles to be vehicle tester inspectors which we have ‘trusted’ for years so why was effect not given to this provision in the EU Directive?

Regretfully, it seems that NCT are endeavouring to maximise their ‘profits’ with the blessing of the Government. The EU have stated that brakes from a safety point of view and emissions from an environmental point of view are the items to be considered on testing of a vehicle, in other words a minimalistic approach. By contrast, the Department of Transport has maximised the amount of items to be tested thereby creating a greater opportunity of ‘failing’ a citizens’ car. The application of VAT at 21% on the test and the retest is the hidden agenda to continue to ‘rip-off’ the already overburdened and overtaxed motorist. 700,000 cars were tested in 2006, and the Government will benefit to the tune of over €7million. Why should safety be taxed? Do the government really care about damage to the environment? From their actions, behaviour and ‘dictatorship’ it is clear that they do not care and in all of this, there was absolutely no discussion, consultation or agreement with the citizen who is ‘forced’ to pay for this test. We would now encourage the motorists to test their cars in the normal way through regular maintenance at their local garage and obtain a certificate of roadworthiness which complies with the provisions of EU Directive 96/96, paying particular attention to the brakes and the emissions as required by the EU, in preference to obtaining a test from NCT. It is time to take a stand against these decisions being made by Government who purport to say that this test is for safety on our roads when in actual fact, the real beneficiary and ‘hidden agendas’ is the amount of revenue collected from this exercise. The real beneficiaries are of course NCT/SGS and the Government with VAT.  Consider this. When a motorist services their car, and are told their car is ‘fine’ after the service, VAT is imposed on the parts and labour as part of the bill. Does the Government seriously expect a motorist to pay for the servicing of their car and then repeat the payment for the same exercise to be performed again by NCT and to be charged a fee + VAT for something which has already been done? If your car is factually ‘roadworthy’ after being serviced, NCT is effectively charging you, the motorist, for what you already know.

For further information, Contact:

Irish Drivers Association:
National Chairman, 087 250 9123
National Secretary,  087 231 2250

Dear Mr. Cowen, Minister for Finance,

We refer to previous correspondence on the above matter. The association is calling for the abolition of vehicle registration tax on all new and second hand motor vehicles and the refunding of this tax to each citizen who purchased a new or second hand vehicle since this nations accession to the EU on the 1st.January 1973.

We request that consideration be strongly given to this matter in the forthcoming budget. Our reasons for this are numerous, not least the fact that the imposition of this tax breaches the provisions of Article 25 of the Treaty of Rome and in implementing inferior legislation in the form of a 1992 Statutory Instrument, deprived citizens of their Treaty entitlements, has made the cost of a vehicle prohibitively expensive and distorts the single internal market.

The VRT is a ‘cancer’ in Irish society in relation to motoring. VRT does not exist in several Member States. Why is the Irish citizen expected to pay more for their own goods? These matters have been extensively brought to your attention in previous correspondence. The responses are clearly unsatisfactory.

Other associations such as the AA and SIMI have made similar requests. We wish to add our voice to these requests. The European Parliament  are also on the citizens side and are seeking its abolition. The association will strongly resist any replacement of VRT on any other forms of taxation. We are also concerned that every aspect of motoring is taxed by this Government in every area of a vehicle’s use, from motor tax to maintainence, fuel tax etc. The effect of these burdensome taxes is to interfere in other areas of fundamental freedoms, most notably the free of movement of persons and the free movement of goods. Concern is being voiced by our members and the citizens in relation to further interference with our Constitutional and Treaty Rights by Gardai, customs and revenue attempting to dispossess citizens of their vehicles by demanding these ‘unlawful’ taxes which are clearly in dispute and we observe that under Article 10 of the Treaty of Rome, Member States are obliged to fulfil their Treaty obligations on behalf of the citizens and that good government in a democracy has, as its primary function, the implementation of the will of the people.

We intend to make this matter, an election issue in the forthcoming General Election and inform citizens of their Treaty rights which have been undermined and circumvented by inferior legislation which cannot usurp or Treaty rights and expectations which we signed up to as a result of a referendum. Surely, these rights, if we (as citizens) are to give them up, the State would be required to hold another referendum to allow the State to take away these rights!

We request a meeting to discuss these matters with you and in the meantime please consider our request for the abolition of VRT and its refund to citizens when formulating budget considerations.

Thank you for your consideration of this issue.

Yours Faithfully,
……………………….
David Russell
National Secretary, Irish Drivers Association.
087 231 2250.

John Lernihan
National Chairman, Irish Drivers Association.
087 2509 123

We have written to you on a number of occasions in connection with various motoring issues, NCT, VRT etc.

We have little or no response from the Minister of Transport even though thousands of our members disagree with his judgment and his predecessors.

It is in our opinion that it is an insult to the people of this nation that with the amount of waste of public finances of this Minister and refusals to meet with this association and failure to implement remedial measures to recover this loss of finance, that this minister is protected for some reason by this Government to continue ‘ripping-off’ the Irish citizen by wasting public taxes with impunity.

We advised this Minister that a fairer system concerning NCT is outlined by the EU in Directive 96/96, Article 2, that in particular, garages which also repair vehicles are also entitled to perform a vehicle test, obviating the necessity for long journeys, waste of fuel, working days lost, damage to the environment, a choice to the citizen as this is a matter of public importance, etc.

We have submitted 10 changes to the NCT/Minister, none of which have been implemented nor appear to have been contemplated or taken on board and the citizen/motorist was not allowed to have any say whatsoever in relation to the setting up of this NCTs or any say in which items were to be tested etc.

A response was issued from his office stating that no useful purpose would be served by such a meeting with this association. We disagree. This arrogance is indicative of a Minister, Department and a Government ‘disconnected’ from the people. This could not possibly be construed as ‘Democracy’ and it is becoming nervous and disconcerting that a NANNY/Dictatorship/police state appears to be emerging. The Government have become so ‘disconnected’ from its people, blinded by greed to the point that we are concerned that the only value a citizen appears to have in this country seems to be in relation to how much money can be extracted from the citizen to satisfy an insatiable desire of greed and power by this Government. How much money is needed or is enough and for what purpose? We are fed up that the legitimate expectation of motorists and citizens are being unfulfilled by not spending the money where it is supposed to go. As a brief example, statistics show approximately 25% or less of road tax is spent on the roads indicating that either we are paying 4 times too much for the road or we are waiting 4 times longer for our roads to be brought up to an acceptable standard. This certainly should have happened before the NCT should have been initiated. The roads are literally a disgrace and wrecking our vehicles and this Government has the audacity to have cars in a roadworthy condition when the very roads themselves could hardly be classed as fit to drive on.

Consideration will be given by this association to withholding tax if these conditions are not rectified not just in this area but in many other areas particularly the unlawful imposition of VRT which in our opinion must be abolished as well as refunded to the citizen as this tax is clearly in breach of Article 25 of the Treaty of Rome and no statutory instrument can be enacted which repudiates this responsibility of this Government to comply with your Article 10 Treaty obligations nor deprive the citizens of this nation of the benefits which were bestowed upon them by acceding to the EU as result of a referendum which our forefathers participated in, in 1972. If our Treaty rights are to be ‘derogated’ from, then a referendum should and must be held to allow the citizen to decide for themselves, democratically, whether or not our Government can override our Treaty rights! NO Irish enactment of law is superior to EU law concerning Community matters, for example in relation to the Free Movement of Goods. How can movement of goods be FREE, when the Government impose VRT and VAT, not separately, but ‘cumulatively’. The imposition of tax destroys the concept of the FREE movement of goods.

It is our opinion that Minister Cullen and his colleagues will pull this Government down without our help. We intend to spearhead a campaign to ‘resurrect democracy’ and give ‘power back to the people’ by having a Government of the people, for the people and by the people because regretfully, we seem to have lost this ideal, the Government seem to have lost sight of this ideal with their arrogance, and we appear to have become lost in the illusion of ‘democracy’ when in reality, it has become a dictatorship and this will not be tolerated by this association which is growing rapidly.

We enclose a copy of our recent letter to Martin Cullen.

Is it possible that you would deal with this matter personally, and we would appreciate your help and cooperation on these important issues before they get out of hand and potentially become important election issues? We would appreciate an answer to our letter, rather than an ‘acknowledgement’, sooner, rather than ‘later’. Thank you for your attention.

Yours Faithfully,

……………………….
David Russell
National Secretary, Irish Drivers Association.
087 231 2250.

John Lernihan
National Chairman, Irish Drivers Association.
087 2509 123

Since NCTs does not guarantee the roadworthiness of a vehicle for the duration of the period of the certificate and that the responsibility lies on the motorist to maintain their vehicles in a roadworthy condition, what is the purpose of your ‘test’ as you now indicate that it is the owners responsibility to maintain the vehicle after the test and for the next two years. During this period, who decides whether the vehicle is roadworthy or not? From your response, it is the owner, and if the owner was responsible and continues to be responsible for the ‘roadworthiness’ of the vehicle before and after the test, the question arises again, what is the purpose of this test?

Briefly, the insurance company covers the motorist for the full duration of the insurance certificate and the motor tax covers the use of the road for the full duration of the motor tax disc, yet you are inferring that your two year certificate is only valid on the day of the test, if it is even valid on that day! How therefore can NCTs purport to issue a ‘roadworthiness’ certificate for two years if no legal responsibility attaches to the issuing of your certificate for that duration?

Thank you for your NCT manual. We observe that 57 items are required to be checked. How then can NCTs have approximately 385 failure points on 57 items? This is totally disproportionate to the time duration of the test as well as being indicative of a ‘failure mentality’ where the odds of a failure are in the NCTs favour. If 57 items are to be tested, then there should only be 57 items of failure. We also observe that you have 58 items of failure approximately on bulbs alone. We have 2 of everything in relation to bulbs. That is why there is two of everything. Are you seriously suggesting that a vehicle is ‘unroadworthy’ for the sake of a bulb? Is my house ‘unliveable’ or ‘unhouseworthy’ if my living-room bulb becomes extinguished?

The recent 19 changes to NCTs have nothing to do with roadworthiness or safety and we observe that the recommended changes of improvement suggested by this association were never implemented nor even contemplated and this will be communicated to the Department of Transport.

We do not wish to see how the test is performed in Dublin on one of your ‘typical lanes’. We are campaigning strongly for the removal of NCTs and for reputable local garages to perform this test in accordance with the provisions of Directive 96/96, Article 2. The reason for this is that thousands of our members have legitimate complaints which have been consistently ignored by NCTs and the Minister and the Department of Transport and the arrogance of your staff which no citizen in this country is going to tolerate.

We now enclose evidence of many organisations and media which have investigated your behaviour and performance and which consistently shows that this company is engaging in practices which are clearly ‘ripping-off’ the Irish citizen to ‘maximise your profits’ and the Government have given NCTs a monopoly ‘licence’ to ‘rip us off’. For this and other reasons, many of our members do not wish to participate or have this test conducted by NCTs where they are servicing and maintaining their vehicle by getting them regularly serviced at the manufacturer’s recommended intervals so as to avoid being subjected to the levels of ‘abuse’ inflicted on our members. The degrading attitude of staff of NCTs towards the motorist has caused a deterioration of respect for NCTs and contrary to the Minister implying that 90% of motorists are satisfied with NCTs, we find that the opposite is the case.

Thank you for attention.

cc. Minister Martin Cullen at the Department of Transport.
……………………….
David Russell
National Secretary
087 231 2250.

……………………….
John Lernihan
National Chairman
087 250 9123

Ladies and Gentlemen, TD’s Senators and Members of the JOC, we wish to thank you for giving us this opportunity to present concerns from our members on various aspects of Transport. We are grateful and we thank you in advance for hearing us.

Issues that we wish to deal with at this meeting are the following:

1. NCT (National Car Test) which we enclose evidence of the disgraceful performance of this test and the unwarranted treatment of the Irish motorist in connection with same, and the failure of the mid-term review report and the refusal of Ministers to answer our letters and also the incompatibility of the NCT with the objectives of EU Directive 96/96.
2. Penalty Points, which is already covered by Irish Law, the punitive mentality of the Government in relation to penalty points and attempts to usurp the powers of the courts and deprive the citizen of access to challenge these ‘punitive’ measures and deprive the citizen of access to justice and further draconian measures by doubling or trebling penalty points if the ‘system’ is challenged.
3. Condition of the Roads, failure to spend the road tax on the roads, tolls, and the system of road tax, the exploring of the possibility of including road tax in the petrol. Many benefits would flow from this.

We have had thousands of complaints from people in connection with NCT, their staff attitude and behaviour, manifesting itself in rudeness, impoliteness, dismissiveness and inattention to citizens concerns. It has been pointed out to us in numerous circumstances concerning failure of their vehicles which has nothing to do with its safety or its roadworthiness. These would not have occurred had this NCT Company not been given a ‘monopoly’ control of this situation, by the Dept. of Transport. The citizen has been deprived of the benefits of Article II of Directive 96/96 by being denied the choice of having their vehicles tested in conjunction with the service of their vehicles at their local garage. This denial has contributed to the ‘monopoly’ situation which NCT have been afforded and are currently enjoying. The effect of this is that the NCT think they can do what they like and the citizen has little or no redress against them. This dictatorial style attitude from NCT is not acceptable to the Irish Motorist or this Association and this monopoly situation is being used to continually fraud the citizen to the point that it is gone ‘beyond a joke’ and is in our opinion a criminal offence and potentially an infringement of Article 82 of the Treaty of Rome. It is despicable to think that the citizen is to be penalised for not having an NCT certificate when NCT themselves appear to have criminal immunity. It is our belief that the effect of this behaviour is that the Government via the Department of Transport has indicated to SGS, a foreign company brought in by Price-WaterHouse Coopers  ‘ come in here to Ireland, and rip off the Irish citizen’. With respect, the Government has a duty to protect its citizens from any type of abuse, potentially or actually from being inflicted on the Irish Citizen. We observe, that notwithstanding the massive complaints from citizens, directly and through this association and documentary evidence through the media, radio programmes etc, the Government and the Dept. of Transport has stood idly by and done nothing to alleviate this abuse, corruption and fraud. PWC was also contracted to set up the mid-term review when they were directly involved in the setting up of NCT which in our opinion involves a conflict of interest.*

The continual high failure rate is attributable to such irrelevant and minor requirements as part of an approximately 400 item check criteria when Directive 96/96 requires only 2 items to be tested, namely brakes and emissions, relating to safety and the environment respectively. Notwithstanding that Article 5 allows Member States to ‘increase the number of items to be tested’, where did 398 other items come from and one would expect these items to be directly related to safety and the environment and not to issues unconnected with these matters.

The Directive refers to ‘tests’ being ‘inexpensive’. By contrast, the NCT have not made the test cost €49, but €49 + €27.50 retest when they are deliberately and with impunity failing citizens vehicles for one purpose and one purpose only, that is to ‘maximise profits’ whilst simultaneously engaging in a criminal activity of ‘frauding’ and making a fool of and at the expense of an already hard pressed, over burdened, over taxed Irish citizen in relation to motoring costs and maintenance costs.
2 year duration to be from the date of test and not the date of registration of the car. Too many complaints from citizens saying cert was given for only one year or 6 months. This is an example of abuse/exploitation of the system and the citizen. How can you backdate a cert with retrospective effect?

Infringement of constitutional rights to peaceful enjoyment of possessions. Freedom of movement = fundamental freedom under Article 39, Treaty of Rome.
Who decided what the number and criteria of the additional 398 items and on what grounds did they feel they were entitled to do so.

Which documents contains a list of all these additional items?

Has the DOT and/or NCT issued a copy of these requirements and/or Directive 96/96 or the Irish Implementing Regulations for this Directive been issued to the Irish Motorist? If not, Why Not?

Democracy. The wishes of the citizens are not being implemented because we are not being listened to!

We, as an Association are requesting  the JOC to consider the removal of NCT by not renewing their contract and giving the consumer a better choice by enabling major and local garages to be allowed to become designated vehicle testing centres as per Article II of Directive 96/96. We also consider that without these measures, the Directive is improperly implemented and if necessary we will consider taking this matter up with the European Parliament.

Yours Faithfully,

……………………….
David Russell
National Secretary, Irish Drivers Association.
087 231 2250.