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

It is a fascinating debate. Professor Morgenroth hints that he will return to the subject and that further analysis is needed so I look forward to hearing more. I feel sorry for the diesel people. The report points out that a measure was taken to address a matter in 2008 but, in the meantime, it caused something else, meaning we need to change it and introduce excise parity as between diesel and petrol. What does Professor Morgenroth say to all the diesel car owners who made the switch, in good faith and for environmental reasons, but will now be penalised? The professor said the measures had an impact on CO2 but the people who switched to diesel bought bigger cars with bigger engines, a development which was impacted by the treatment of motor tax.

The mayor of Paris is trying to ban cars and there are movements in this area. I am alarmed that 10% of our tax revenue comes from transport. I was not aware of that and I wonder how it compares internationally. The professor also raised a concern for the future, which is that if there is a switch from conventional combustion engines to electric cars it will have an impact on excise.

Ireland is largely dependent on fossil fuels for its energy, even for electric cars, and the more electric cars we have the greater the reliance on fossil fuel. Can Professor Morgenroth comment on that? We were told the switch from leaded petrol to unleaded petrol, 30 years ago, would reduce emissions and that there would be other consequences. If there was a dramatic shift in motor tax changes and people returned to petrol, what would the consequences be for CO2 emissions? It seems people are drifting back to petrol at the moment and those who thought they were doing the right thing in 2008 now realise they are causing more pollution in the city.

The emissions scandal has never been addressed here. Drivers made a switch in good faith and we do not even know if this led to a reduction in emissions. We have not really reported on this in Ireland, and though I put down a couple of parliamentary questions about it I only got a curt response. Does the ESRI have something on that?

The paper is very thought provoking and necessary as the first step of many. I look forward to further outputs. However, as demonstrated by the excise changes in 2008, consumers are quite prepared to make changes if they think there is an environmental good. However, they have been codded by the industry in this regard.

Has Professor Morgenroth any comment to make on that? To repeat my first question, what would he say to diesel drivers who made the switch in good faith in the belief they were doing something environmentally good? They may have a 15 D, 16 D, 17 D or 18 D registration and he is now saying the ESRI will recommend increasing the excise rate on diesel as a budgetary measure.