Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the Deputies who contributed. Their contributions were interesting and thought provoking. The analysis on all sides of the House has been excellent.

A point was well made by everyone, particularly Deputy Finian McGrath today, is that the Bill's primary purpose is to close a loophole. If we are losing between €50 million and €55 million per annum through motor tax evasion, it is a serious issue. The Bill addresses it. As each Deputy has acknowledged, evasion hurts those who are compliant. Why should thousands of motor tax evaders get away with it? No longer will people be able to take a tax holiday. It is not a victimless crime, as the burden falls on all road users. The existing system was intended to allow people who genuinely had their cars off the road to make signed declarations at Garda stations to that effect, but it has become a source of abuse over the years. There have been many calls to close this loophole.

Deputy Healy-Rae was wide of the mark in accusing the Garda, the Minister and everyone else of co-operating in an abuse. A garda is asked to affirm that the signatory is the person he or she claims to be. The garda is not asked to form a view on whether the car has been off the road or who is the car's owner. I urge the Deputy to read up on the facts instead of imputing motives to the Minister, the Department and gardaí.

The arrangements being put in place are simple and straightforward. They are not designed to inconvenience those who are compliant. Those who need to take their vehicles off the road will still be able to do so, but they must notify the licensing authority in advance. A similar system has operated successfully in the UK for more than a decade and I expect it will operate just as successfully in Ireland.

The Bill's measures are a key first step in addressing the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General in his 2011 report. They will facilitate the putting in place of further mechanisms that may be necessary to tackle any residual minor evasion. In this regard and to reduce evasion, I noted Deputy Cowen's suggestion on the potential sharing of data through the use of existing mechanisms. My Department and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport are considering the feasibility of data sharing from traffic cameras as an anti-motor tax evasion mechanism. However, it should be borne in mind that traffic cameras are in place to manage road safety issues and have contributed significantly to the reduction in the number of lives lost on roads in recent years. If traffic cameras were used for data sharing, it should not impinge on the primary safety role of the camera system.

Currently, the requirement on a garda is to witness a statement that a vehicle has not been in use. It is not possible for gardaí to check the truthfulness of statements presented to them, as the persons making the statements are not required to produce any evidence that the vehicles are off the road. A system requiring such evidence would be unworkable and would place unreasonable demands on gardaí. The proposal for the new system is to remove any requirement to attend a Garda station, thus freeing up time that is currently spent by gardaí on administration.

The Bill is not anti-business. If a vehicle is to be parked up until trade picks up, the only action the business person will need to take is to make a declaration in advance. If trade picks up before the declaration of non-use expires, tax can be paid from the start of the current month in the normal way.

The current arrangements for motor dealers - they do not need to pay motor tax in respect of their stock in trade - are not affected by the Bill's provisions. The arrangements have been discussed with the trade and I understand that it is happy with the approach being taken.

Regarding the cost of fuel, I remind the House that, in budget 2013, the Minister for Finance announced a rebate on diesel that will take effect from 1 July 2013. This initiative will support small businesses in all sectors of the economy, as most rely on cost effective transport for their inputs and outputs. This transport is provided by hauliers, the majority of whom are small businesses.

However, in regard to the introduction of a direct debit system, I have been advised there are no plans to provide a legislative basis for doing so at the moment. As well as requiring significant resources to set up initially, there are a number of potential risks associated with a direct debit system for which we would need to be legislate, not least the need to make provision for the cancellation and recovery of motor tax discs where the owner cancels the direct debit mandate or has insufficient funds in the account to meet the monthly charge. It should be borne in mind that introduction of a direct debit payment system would also impact on the flow of income to the local government fund and, consequently, on grant allocations.

At this point, I wish to assure contributing Deputies that ensuring a properly functioning, representative and responsive local government system is of high importance to the Government. The most significant restructuring of local government in over a century is now being implemented in accordance with the action programme for effective local government. We want a local government system that delivers local services in an efficient and effective manner. This debate is not the appropriate forum to outline the full details of the reform programme, but we will deliver a local government system that is fit for purpose for the 21st century.

Deputy Ellis queried the purpose of making the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport a licensing authority. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government is currently a licensing authority for the purpose of motor tax online and has been since the online system was set up in late 2003. Amending references to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in legislation to refer to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport is to reflect that the national vehicle and driver file, which was under the auspices of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, is now part of the portfolio of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. The amendments are technical and make no day-to-day impact on the online system, which has been very successful since its inception and through which half of all motor tax transactions are now processed.

I accept the points made by speakers on the administration fee. The Bill provides for the charging of such a fee through secondary legislation. There is also provision for a range of exemptions, should an administration fee be introduced. The Bill makes no provision for charging a premium over and above the reasonable cost of administration and it could not, therefore, be used as a tax-raising measure.

I wish to refer to a number of points to which reference was made in the debate. There are no provision in the Bill that affect the current system of allowing a month's grace. It is not a requirement that a vehicle must be notified as being off the road three months in advance. The Bill provides that the declaration must be made in advance, but in the month before the current tax expires, or if there is already a non-use declaration in place, within the month before that expires.

I again thank all Deputies for their contributions. On the question of arrears, I stress that this was a wholly inadvertent error, and was missed for many years. On charging arrears at the rate of one tenth rather than one twelfth of the annual tax per month of arrears, my Department made arrangements to rectify the error in a matter of a week or so, as soon as it became aware of the error. In the case of charging for arrears at the current rate rather than the old and new rates where arrears straddle an increase in the rates of tax, the lacuna in the law was an inadvertent error, again of many years standing. For technical reasons, correcting the rates of tax would be quite difficult and, regretfully, it has not been possible to prioritise the programming work involved. The legal position in respect of charging for arrears will be restored to one tenth of the annual rate following the transitional arrangements for the changeover to the new system, and the system as everyone understood it will be reinstated.

In deciding not to repay the moneys, consideration has had to be given to the potential cost of repaying them. In one tax year approximately 300,000 individuals might have been inadvertently overcharged by small amounts. Considerable expense would be incurred in contacting the individuals to find out if they are still at the same address and in writing cheques for approximately €10 - the amount involved in most cases. It is not simply a matter of issuing cheques to the last known address. We could be accused of, literally, throwing away money. As I have already indicated, the amounts involved are very small in the vast majority of cases and the case for repayment must be balanced against the potential cost of the repayment.

The Department has commissioned a wide-ranging review of the existing producer responsibility agreements which are currently in operation, including end-of-life vehicles. There is no reference in the Bill to that particular provision but the potential for the introduction of additional producer responsibility initiatives to help Ireland to meet its environmental obligations are being considered. The Department expects to receive the report on the review shortly.

More than 240,000 on-the-spot fines were issued for non-display of road tax between 2008 and 2011. I commend the Road Safety Authority, in particular its chief executive, Mr. Noel Brett, and its chairman, Mr. Gay Byrne, who have made remarkable progress in a short time. The reduction in road deaths has been significant and unprecedented since the current road safety campaign commenced, notwithstanding comments made by Opposition Members, which are entirely wrong. The facts speak for themselves. The Road Safety Authority is doing an outstanding job on which I commend it. The Bill will proceed to a vote in the House if necessary. I thank all those who have supported it. I encourage Members to table whatever amendments they wish on Committee Stage.

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