John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and Mr. John McCarthy. Some of the questions I wanted to ask have been asked . What figure, if any, has the Minister set aside to deal with the public sector pay issue or what does he anticipate having to set aside?

A number of the tax profiles are below target and I ask the Minister to comment on that. The one I am particularly interested in is the motor tax receipts, which are down by €6 million. I read an article in one of the newspapers this morning, and while it is not strictly a budgetary issue, I would like to hear the Minister's views. I refer to the worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedure which his Department is examining, in part to try to deal with carbon emissions issues that arose with some of the major car manufacturers in the United States.

This would more accurately reflect the emissions. I would like to know where that is at, where the thinking of the Department is on this issue, and whether there will be any impact on tax rates on various engine sizes as a result.