More vehicles failed the National Car Test (NCT) than passed last year, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Some 52.8 per cent of cars initially failed the NCT, but the pass rate rose to 94 per cent on retesting.
In 2016, 1,465,710 tests took place of which 773,588 were failures, but only 71,508 vehicles failed the retest.
There were some anomalies. The NCT centres at Ballinasloe, Carndonagh, Cork (Little Island), Deansgrange, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Killarney, Macroom and Tullamore all passed more cars than they failed.
The statistics also reveal an increase in use of most forms of transport and also in numbers sitting their driving tests, a reflection of the improving economy.
A total of 114,399 people took the driving test in 2016, a decrease on the 121,918 who took it in 2015, but up on the 104,302 who took it in 2012 when the economy was at a low ebb.
Men vs women
There was a marked difference between the number of men passing their driving test (57 per cent) and women (49.3 per cent).
The number of new private licensed cars was up by 17.2 per cent at 141,931.
The number of journeys taken through Irish airports in 2016 was 32.8 million, an increase of 10.3 per cent. Irish Rail carried 42.8 million passengers, an increase of 8 per cent and there were 205.6 million scheduled bus services, up 2.3 per cent on 2015,
The number travelling through Irish ferry ports (2.4 million passengers) was down by 1.4 per cent, and the number of Luas passengers decreased by 1.6 per cent to 34 million passengers.
The improving economy also accounts for an increase of 20 per cent in the amount of goods being carried on Irish roads. Haulage companies carried 141.7 million tonnes last year.
There was also an 8.2 per cent increase in the number of vessels arriving in Irish ports. It was 12,880 in 2016.
