LATEST: New figures reveal Clare has the highest NCT failure rate in Ireland

County Clare had the lowest NCT pass rate in the country in 2025, ranking among the counties with the highest rates of ‘fail dangerous’ vehicles identified by NCT testers.

According to figures published in The Journal, 132,964 vehicles received a ‘fail dangerous’ result following NCT inspection last year, with approximately one in every 13 vehicles tested deemed unroadworthy to a dangerous level.

In Clare, more than half of all vehicles (58.5%) failed their initial NCT test, and 9.2% were classified as ‘fail dangerous’, the third-highest rate nationally after Cavan and Meath.

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According to figures published by the National Car Testing Service (NCTS), 7.6% of over 1.74 million vehicles that were tested in 2025 were deemed unsafe to be driven on public roads.

A ‘fail dangerous’ classification is applied to vehicles regarded as having a defect that “constitutes a direct or immediate risk to road safety such that the vehicle should not be used on the road under any circumstances"r.

A total of 4,218 vehicles remained in a dangerous, unroadworthy condition even after being submitted for re-testing..

Cavan recorded the highest ‘fail dangerous’ rate in Ireland at 11.4%, followed by Meath with 9.4%. Clare was tied with Sligo for the third-highest rate at 9.2%, ahead of Monaghan on 9%

Offaly had the lowest ‘fail dangerous’ rate at 6.2%, followed by Kildare with 6.6% and Wicklow with 6.9%, while Dublin, Kerry and Waterford were tied at 7.1%.

The overall annual pass rate for a full NCT test decreased to 49.2%, the first time in five years that the figure has dropped below 50%.

Eight counties recorded pass rates in excess of 50%, with the highest level in Offaly at 56.2%, followed by Waterford on 53.0% and Tipperary at 52.0%.

Kilkenny recorded a pass rate of 51.8%, followed by Dublin at 51.5%, Cork at 50.9%, Limerick at 50.7% and Wicklow at 50.6%.

Clare had the lowest overall pass rate in the country, with just 41.5% of vehicles passing their initial test. This was followed by Cavan at 41.6%, Longford at 41.7% and Monaghan at 42.2%.

The NCTS figures also showed that more than 14% of all vehicles tested last year had defective tyres, while 11% had defective front suspension and 8% had defective brakes.

The data further revealed that almost 14% of the more than 630,000 vehicles submitted for a lane re-test last year failed the inspection.