Motorists will have to fork out more money on their cars as Transport Minister Leo Varadkar approves a 10 per cent increase on the National Car Test (NCT).
Is you’re NCT coming up? Well act fast or you’ll be stung with the price rise. From February 1, the NCT is set to rise from €50 to €55. However, according to the Irish Independent, the cost of the re-test remains at €28, which last year 49.5 per cent of Irish cars were forced to take.
So why are we getting slapped with an extra fiver even though motorists around the country are already being hit with tax hikes on both cars and fuel? Well, Mr Varadkar wants to make the Road Safety Authority (RSA) – which runs the NCT testing system – self-financing.
The extra charge has been slammed by many commentators, including Dermot Jewell of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland who said the move will cause “significant difficulty” for drivers who are due to get their cars tested.
Speaking to the Irish Independent he said, “I think it’s going to hurt a lot of people, together with all the other increases they have taken on board.
“There has already been an increase in VAT and the (health) insurance levy will be passed onto consumers. These increases make it very difficult for people to balance budgets.”
At a time when people are taking pay cuts left, right and centre, is an extra charge what we need?
Ok, so it’s the price of a pint (which is also outrageous – but that’s a different story for a different day) but still, the average motorist is already paying between €300 and €500 on road tax and a further €60 to €70 for a full fill of petrol. So it would be nice to hold onto that fiver.
