The leader of Aontú, Peadar Tóibín, has said that a “damaging” decision by the National Car Testing (NCT) service to go cashless must be reversed.
Over the coming months, the NCT operator Applus+ Inspection Services said that cash payments will be phased out and replaced with card and postal order payments only.
This means those booking their NCT must pay ahead of the test date.
The company said it took the decision for the “safety and convenience” of its customers.
NCT
However, the move away from cash by the NCT operator has faced stinging criticism, including from Tóibín.
“Cash provides a simple payment method for everyone irrespective of access to the internet, smart phones or the ability to use technology.
“Cash is crucial for the inclusion of socially vulnerable citizens such as the elderly or lower-income groups and people living in rural areas or without access to technology,” the Meath West TD said.
“Ending the use of cash is a kick in the stomach to older people. It makes older people dependent. It reduces their autonomy when we should be encouraging them to live full and independent lives.
“Older people have to ask their children or their neighbours to carry out everyday actions on their behalf. This does real damage to their confidence,” he added.
The Aontú leader said that phone and internet coverage can be “extremely sketchy in many parts of the country”.
“[Inconveniencing] many people who live in rural areas from these transactions is absolutely wrong. And I am not talking about the wilds of Connemara. I am talking about people living two or three miles outside main towns around the country.
“Also, there are many people who can’t use phones for complicated transactions. Many people can’t use the authentication software on banking apps necessary to make transactions. Signals often drop before authentication can be competed,” Toíbín said.
Cashless
The TD believes that this is a more damaging decision than the recent controversial move by the GAA to go cashless as the NCT is a mandatory requirement for motorists.
The penalty for driving without an NCT certificate is a fine of up to €2,000, and/or up to five penalty points and/or imprisonment for up to three months.
“I think this decision is a bit rich coming from the NCT also given that they cannot run their service as properly. Many people have had massive delays over the last year.
“The Central Bank of Ireland states clearly that cash ensures your freedom and autonomy,” Tóibín said.
“Cash is also legal tender. According to the Central Bank of Europe, creditors, such as shops and restaurants, cannot refuse cash, unless both they and the customer have agreed on another means of payment in advance.
“It’s time that the Minister of Finance clarified what does this mean. Does it mean that organisations such as the NCT in the pay of state can unilaterally kill cash?” the TD said.
Meanwhile, Independent TD for Laois-Offaly Carol Nolan is engaging with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) following the decision of the NCT to adopt a ‘cashless’ payment policy.
“It just makes no sense for the NCT to adopt this approach when we spent almost the entirety of 2022 and well into 2023 trying to ensure that everything possible was done to reduce the backlog in and reinstate an average waiting period of 12 days.
“They should be making it easier on people to book their tests, not harder.
“People value the cash option but more importantly they value the sense of not being railroaded into a ‘cashless’ society simply for the convenience of operators who provide a mandatory public service.
“The NCT and the RSA urgently need to rethink this one and stop making people’s lives more difficult than they already are,” Deputy Nolan said.