CAN I GET ANY MONEY FOR SCRAPPING MY OLD CAR?

Q My car is 12 years old and has failed its NCT. The repairs I would need to make to bring it up to scratch simply aren’t worthwhile given its age. I see there is a new ‘end-of-life’ scheme to scrap vehicles for free. But what’s the point of that? Can’t I get paid something for my car? Don’t motor dealers offer thousands for scrappage?

A You can get up to €4,000 for scrapping your car with a motor dealer – but you have to buy a new one. And the downside is that not many people who drive 12-year-old cars can afford – or even want – to buy a new car. And with good reason, given that the first year's depreciation will cost thousands – up to 40% of the price of a car. These schemes aren't really about scrappage, they are more of a marketing gimmick as the dealer may sell on your car to someone else.

Conditions also vary. Some may require an NCT cert and accept only cars less than five years old, while some may take a complete banger.

If you don't want a new car, then some scrapyards do pay up to €100 for your old one. Check out cartakeback.ie – for an instant quote for your car. Or call 1800 844 389. It's an international scrap car recycling company and will even collect the car from your home.

Some scrapyards used to charge for scrapping cars. But under a new End of Life Vehicle Environmental Scheme (Elves), a range of approved treatment facilities covering most of the country are obliged to scrap cars for free. You can look these up on elves.ie Otherwise the address for queries is: ELV Environmental Services CLG, Unit 154, Workspace Centre, Mayoralty Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth, A92 E368

Elves was brought in on foot of an EU directive that controls the disposal of old cars. This is largely because of the hazardous materials contained in end-oflife vehicles, including lead acid batteries, lubricating oil, coolant, brake fluid and catalytic convertors.

Make sure you go to an approved treatment facility that has the necessary equipment and licence required to recycle cars properly and issue you with a certificate of destruction to prove your car has been disposed of correctly. It is an offence for you – or an approved facility – to not comply with the law on the disposal of end-of-life vehicles. You could be faced with a fine of €100 over a breach of the rules. An unscrupulous operator could also sell on your car or chop it up and weld part of it onto another car, leading to all sorts of nasty complications.

You could also be liable for road tax and parking tickets if your car was sold on without having the proper paperwork filled in. On a positive note, if there's a minimum of three complete months of road tax left on your car, you could get a refund for any complete months remaining. To apply for a motor tax refund, get a Form RF120 signed or stamped at a Garda Station, and present it, along with the destruction certificate, at your local motor tax office.

Also call your insurer to let them know your car has been scrapped. Usually you can either transfer any surplus towards insuring your next vehicle or get a refund for any unused months.

Q Your figure for Ireland’s national debt in last week’s article on Anglo Irish Bank was €185bn. But I’ve seen it quoted as €200.6bn. Which is right?

A The EU's statistics agency Eurostat calculates our debt at around €200bn. But that uses the gross figure. Our own Central Statistics Office and National Treasury Management Agency deduct certain financial assets from the total and come up with a lower net figure. The NTMA put our debt at €185bn for the end of last year because it deducts cash and other financial assets from the total, although it is even higher by now (see main piece).

I went with the NTMA, as it's responsible for managing our debt, so it should know how much it is! Whichever way you look at it, the debt is enormous: it works out at around €92,000 for every worker