International consulting firm Cambridge Technology Partners has signed a £0.5 million (€0.6 million) contract with the National Car-Testing Service (NCTS) to implement the technology for the new service.

Compulsory car-testing is to be introduced in the Republic from next year, in compliance with an EU directive aimed at enhancing road safety and environmental protection. All cars more than eight years old will have to pass a roadworthiness test from January in the first phase of a programme which will eventually include almost every vehicle in the State.

The central testing operation will be based in CityWest, outside Dublin, with 43 operating centres throughout the State and a number of primary and back-up host computers in Dublin. The technology implemented by Cambridge will handle the flow of information from the initial contact with the customer through to the issuing of a test certificate for a car.

NCTS is a member of the Swiss-based SGS Group, which won the contract to conduct the car-testing for 10 years. Cambridge has more than 4,500 employees and 55 offices worldwide. It employs 100 people at its Baggot Street offices in Dublin and will have a team of six consultants working on the car-testing project in order to meet next year's deadline.

Pilot car-testing has already begun at the Athlone testing centre and Cambridge expects the project to be completed in November.