The firm that operates the National Car Test (NCT) contract last year clocked up weekly revenues of €1.75m as it bid to clear a backlog in NCT tests.
New accounts show that Applus Inspection Services Ireland Ltd returned to a pre-tax profit of €1.02m last year following a pre-tax loss of €981,010 in the prior year.
This followed revenues at the Spanish owned company increasing by 15% or €11.65m from €79.32m to €90.97m in 2023.
The operation of the contract had been the source of controversy during 2023 with Minister for State at the Department of Transport, Jack Chambers, saying last June that delays for motorists in getting mandatory NCTs for their vehicles were "absolutely unacceptable".
However, a spokeswoman for Applus said today that the waiting list for appointments for the NCT was effectively eliminated before Christmas.
"In 2023, NCTS saw the highest volume of testing ever with almost 1.6m full tests carried out, nearly 200,000 more than in 2022 or 2021," she said.
She added that the first quarter of this year saw the highest throughput in a single quarter in the 24-year history of the NCTS and over 80,000 more inspections were carried out compared to the same quarter in 2023.
"Applus have recruited extensively in the Philippines for qualified mechanics to address the critical shortage of skilled staff in Ireland," she said.
"There are currently over 650 vehicle inspectors employed, the highest number ever in the history of the NCTS and with 40 more due to commence training in May/June and recruitment is still ongoing."
"They have made a real difference in the volume of tests carried out and waiting times have been virtually eliminated in most centres."
Numbers employed by Applus last year increased by 37 from 812 to 849 and staff costs increased by 16% from €37.03m to €43.95m.
At a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) confirmed at the end of April that the NCT service had "returned to within the Service Level Agreement (SLA) during the month of December and currently the booking lead time at the end of March was 15 days vs the SLA of 12 days".
In addition, the RSA confirmed that the number of customers on the priority waiting list has reduced from a high point from just under 65,000 in February 2023 to 4,000 as of the end of March 2024.
In the accounts, the Applus directors state that "while strong progress has been made, the company is not meeting all its service obligations as a result of the long term impact of Covid-19 has had on the service"
They added: "We continue to engage closely and constructively with the RSA regarding these obligations to address the underlying issues that the service is experiencing as a result of the pandemic".
The NCT fee for a full test is €55 and a re-test costs €28.
The ten year NCT contract operated by Applus concluded in June 2020 and the firm successfully re-tendered for a new 10 year contract.
The company last year recorded an operating profit of €671,822 before net interest payments of €358,112 are taken into account.
The operating profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €4.4m.
The firm's revenues last year consisted of €84.19m in NCT revenues, €6.3m in VRT Import Conformance Inspection income and ancillary income of €434,124.
Directors’ pay last year totalled €197,347 made up of emoluments of €172,889 and €24,458.
The firm’s shareholder funds last year totalled €5.19m that included cash funds of €1.02m.
