{"id":527299,"date":"2026-07-01T08:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T08:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/527299\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T08:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T08:54:16","slug":"nct-operators-expect-a-jump-in-test-volumes-as-eu-overhauls-roadworthiness-standards-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/527299\/","title":{"rendered":"NCT operators expect a jump in test volumes as EU overhauls roadworthiness standards \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

New legislation aimed at improving compliance with vehicle roadworthiness standards will have a \u201cpositive effect\u201d on business activity levels at the British-owned company responsible for operating the State\u2019s National Car Testing (NCT)<\/a> scheme, its directors have said. <\/p>\n

Applus Inspection Services reported a more than 13 per cent jump in revenues for 2025 to almost \u20ac117.7 million in new accounts filed recently with the Companies Registration Office. <\/p>\n

The company, which is owned by Spain\u2019s testing and certification specialist Applus, also reported an almost 13 per cent jump in operating profits to nearly \u20ac7 million in the year, despite a steep increase in sales costs. <\/p>\n

In their report on the company<\/a>, included in the filings, directors Aitor Retes Aguado and Edward Synnott said its performance in 2025 was \u201cpositive\u201d and reflected increased revenues from the expansion of its headcount throughout its testing network.<\/p>\n

Applus <\/a>employed 855 people last year, up from 843 in 2024, according to the filings. <\/p>\n

The directors also said that \u201congoing legislation to improve vehicle roadworthiness compliance will have a positive effect on the volume of tests\u201d it performs annually. <\/p>\n

Late last year, the EU council of transport ministers agreed to proceed with legislation that will overhaul roadworthiness compliance standards across the bloc. <\/p>\n

The European Commission\u2019s \u201croadworthiness package\u201d is an update to the existing rules that addresses advances in technology, including electric vehicles. The Department of Transport said at the time that the package introduces new measures that will mandate \u201cmore frequent testing\u201d and enhanced screening of high-emitting vehicles. <\/p>\n

Last month, the European Parliament voted to remove mandatory annual emissions tests for vans from the proposal. Discussions are now taking place between the parliament and the European Council, according to reports. <\/p>\n

Applus\u2019s ultimate parent is British-registered Amberjvco, owned by a group of investment funds.<\/p>\n

Applus Services, the Spanish-based global specialist in testing and certification, owned the Irish business up to October 2024, when it transferred to Amberjvco, the accounts state.<\/p>\n

\"\"Has the Irish building sector got themselves hooked on Government subsidies?<\/p>\n

The Irish company won the 10-year contract to operate the NCT service in 2019 from the Road Safety Authority. The deal runs from 2020 to 2030.<\/p>\n

Applus states that its service is completely independent and not tied to the motor trade or to any business engaged in repairing or maintaining cars.<\/p>\n

The Applus group is a multinational that provides its services to industries including energy, oil and gas, construction, infrastructure and aviation. The company has nine car test businesses in Europe and the Americas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New legislation aimed at improving compliance with vehicle roadworthiness standards will have a \u201cpositive effect\u201d on business activity…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,7941,11450,96282,61,60,224455],"class_list":["post-527299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-department-of-transport","tag-european-parliament","tag-european-council","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-national-car-testing-service-nct"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}