Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

For the purposes of vehicle registration tax, an ambulance is defined in section 130 of the Finance Act 1992. It is the EU definition of an ambulance under the European vehicle-type approval standards. Any vehicle which meets that definition, irrespective of whether it is used on or off road, is characterised as being in VRT category D, which means it is exempt from VRT at registration. Vehicles commonly referred to as off-road ambulances are generally four-by-four or quad-type vehicles that can load a stretcher and that have a number of other adaptations and external reflective livery. They are not ambulances either on or off road; they can be used for a wide range of other functions when not being used to transport an injured party. Allowing targeted VRT relief to cover this type of vehicle would open up the exemption to a significant number of vehicles. This would be impossible to control and it would be open to misuse.

There are limits to how targeted a measure can be in tax legislation. The Revenue Commissioners must apply the law impartially to all taxpayers equally and require criteria that are grounded solidly in legislation. All things considered, and acknowledging the worthy background to the proposal, I am nonetheless not of the view that a tax exemption is the way to achieve an end in this case. I have outlined the reasons. Many organisations that operate the vehicles in question are already in receipt of significant Government funding, such as from the Department of Rural and Community Development's CLÁR programme. One purpose of this funding is to help maintain the vehicle fleet. This is a matter that has been raised over the years for the support vehicles in question but the reasons I have outlined as to why it is not feasible to turn vehicles into off-road ambulances and, in turn, provide an exemption from VRT in respect of them are laid out in the answer I have given.