Plan to cut NCT backlog rejected

NCT operator Applus is set to scrap plans to hire new lower-skilled staff to help ease the current backlog of tests.

Applus wanted to recruit assistants known as inspection support personnel, who would carry out the “less skilled” early stages of testing using specialised machinery and equipment.

The final stages that involve checking the underbody of a vehicle would still have to be conducted by fully qualified mechanics.

The Labour Court recommended that the plan should be rolled out on a 12 month trial basis across the five Dublin test centres.

But 87 per cent of Siptu members rejected this recommendation in a ballot last month.

Siptu, Ireland’s largest trade union, said that inspection personnel lacked appropriate qualifications and would undermine its members’ job security.

It also said the plan to hire them would affect their terms and conditions of employment.

A spokesperson for Applus told The Irish Independent that the company would now explore “new avenues” to reduce the backlog.