Good news for motorist as new NCTS centre opens

THE NATIONAL Car Testing Service (NCTS) and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) have announced that a new National Car Testing Service centre will open.

The centre will open in Castleisland, County Kerry on Monday October 9. 

The opening of this new two-lane centre will see the NCTS network increase to 50 centres nationwide and over time, create an additional 12 jobs for the Castleisland area. 

Speaking ahead of its first day of operations, Minister of State with responsibility for Road Transport, Jack Chambers TD, said; “I am delighted to see the opening of this new two-lane centre in Castleisland which will serve the people of North East Kerry, and will provide motorists with a convenient alternative that’s close to them, rather than having to travel to other neighbouring centres in Tralee, Killarney and Abbeyfeale for an NCT. Intensive efforts are underway to reduce NCT waiting times for motorists including the recruitment of extra vehicle testers, and other measures. This new centre will also help to ensure a more efficient and reliable service for motorists.”

Major changes announced at NCT centres with cash no longer to be accepted

Commenting on the opening Mr Sam Waide, CEO, Road Safety Authority said; “The new 2 lane centre will have the capacity to inspect over 20,000 vehicles annually when fully operational. The NCTS plays a fundamental part in Ireland’s overall Road Safety Strategy. By requiring vehicles to undergo periodic roadworthiness checks it is helping to improve vehicle safety and ensure that defective and unroadworthy vehicles are kept off the road”

Mr Mark Synnott, Managing Director of NCTS said; “We are delighted to serve the people of Northeast Kerry with this new two-lane centre and the opening of the Castleisland centre will see us increase our network to 50 NCT centres nationwide and employ over 630 vehicle inspectors, the highest number ever in the history of the NCTS. This new centre will help increase capacity and bring the number of vehicles inspected across the NCTS network to over 2 million vehicles annually. Over the next year, there are plans to provide a range of additional benefits to customers such as, the continued upgrading and refurbishment of existing centres and other service improvements such as the installation of defibrillators in higher volume centres”

Located in the Castleisland area in Kerry, this new NCTS centre is the fourth test centre in the Kerry region and will serve people from Northeast Kerry, West Cork and South East Kerry covering areas such as Castleisland, Farranfore, Ballydesmond, Brosna, Farranbrack, Ardagh, Renagowan, Firies and Clash.

The NCTS is responsible for the compulsory car inspection programme in Ireland. 

The primary aim of the NCTS is to improve road safety and enhance environmental protection by reducing harmful vehicle emissions in Ireland. 

For further information on the NCTS, visit HERE or HERE.