There were 15,620 tests at the Letterkenny NCT centre where 7,570 passed (49%) with 50 cars recording a dangerous fail.
Of the 3,378 tests conducted at the Carndonagh NCT centre just 1,650 passed (49%) with 10 cars recording a ‘dangerous fail’.
In Derrybeg the pass rate is 49.6%, while at 61.3% Donegal Town has the highest pass rate of the 45 NCT centres in the country.
The overall pass rate for Donegal was 52%, the same as the national average.
By contrast, the equivalent MOT test in Northern Ireland has a 22% failure rate despite the fact that the exact same equipment is used in conducting tests on both sides of the border.
“The same rationale underpins both the NCT and MOT – it’s to ensure cars are safe to use the roads and dangerous cars are taken off the roads – and I don’t see why the pass and fail rates should be so different between north and south.
“The high failure rate in the NCT in comparison to the MOT suggests that there are issues to be assessed by the authorities here. I will write to the Minister to see if the discrepancies between the tests in the Republic and the North can be identified and to see if the NCT can be amended so that people have to make fewer trips to have their vehicles retested.
The NCT costs €50 for a family vehicle, with retests costing an additional €28. In Northern Ireland the MOT costs £30.50 (€35), with retests costing £18.50 (€21).
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