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

People want predictability and diesel car drivers thought they had predictability in 2008. We then found out there was a whole new science around pollutants, which has led to the current discussion about a change in policy to change purchasers' behaviour.

Ms Murphy criticised the study carried out by the ESRI on environmental and fiscal taxes. Professor Morgenroth of the ESRI provided an outline of the study in an earlier contribution to the joint committee. What evidence does the IRHA have to support its claim? This will be vital in developing tax policy. In hindsight, the science was probably was not available in 2008. However, for the past eight to ten years, right up to this year, people bought diesel cars in good faith, believing they were doing their best for the environment. Having invested in these cars, they find that is not the case and tax policy on diesel may change in the budget. Can the IRHA point to any errors in the data presented in the ESRI study? Does it have empirical evidence that contradicts the research published by the ESRI?