apart from posting a link to the NCT website which states you must have an NCT cert and encforcement is a matter for the gardai - can anyone specify what powers (if any) gardai have to 'enforce' this? anyone get a fixed penalty recently? (i haven't - but got them years ago) - they list the offences - is anything NCT related on that list? i doubt it. friend has no NCT on car for years and hasn't stopped him getting insurance or tax and has never had any trouble at check-points.....
friends of mine are gardai and they tell me, off the record, that they couldn't give a monkeys about NCT certs if everything else is in order - not very technichal legal language but there you go!
ps - i dont think an insurance company could refuse to pay out in the event that a car they insured, which was involved in an accident, was not NCT'd - the lack of an NCT cert does not mean a car is not road-worthy - just as equally as a 23 month old NCT cert does not mean that a car is road-worthy at present. insurance companies, when renewing cover - ask you about penalty points etc - they dont ask about nct certs.