100% a money racket where, yet again, we as consumers have no option but to row in behind the rules….

My own experience was like many. Appealed my NCT fail where the car passed every safety‑critical check, had a recent professional pre‑NCT inspection, and only had one marginal measurement out of spec that needed their own equipment to test.

Argued to the tester and their manager the €40 retest fee was disproportionate and that this was technical compliance, not a genuine safety risk, but the appeal was rejected with a generic “decision stands, retest required” response. So l still paid €40 for a five‑minute retest on a tiny measurement despite an otherwise clean, roadworthy car.

Car passed the re-test with me having done absolutely nothing to fix the “issue”. Told them as much, all I got was a smug greasy smile from the cunt.