A report commissioned by the Road Safety Authority is extremely critical of the system in place for testing commercial vehicles.
According to the report, the current scheme is wide open to abuse.
The scheme for testing commercial vehicles has been in place for the past 25 years. More than 250,000 HGVs and LGVs are tested each year.
Following a number of high profile road crashes involving commercial vehicles, the Road Safety Authority commissioned Price Waterhouse Cooper to carry out a complete review of the current scheme.
The report highlights major deficiencies in the current system, including inconsistencies in the testing process and inadequate IT systems, which the authors say could lead to widespread abuse.
There are 25 major recommendations contained in the report, all of which have been accepted by Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey.
The recommendations include the RSA taking responsibility for the testing scheme.
It is expected the authority will have completed its take over of the vehcile testing scheme within the next 18 months.
