Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will comment on section 34 as well as section 32 to avoid repeating myself later. I have an issue with the worldwide harmonised light vehicle testing procedure because it is nothing more than another three-card trick. We have seen what happened previously with Volkswagen and some car manufacturers whereby they used sleight of hand in terms of the emissions from their vehicles. While we now have a harmonised system for measuring emissions, a laboratory test is still being used to set the emissions for these vehicles rather than an actual emissions profile.

The reason we need to move away from laboratory tests and directly link emissions profiles to motor tax for vehicles is that it will bring about the type of transformational change needed in transport emissions, without having to go down the road of raising carbon taxes, which we spoke about earlier. This has already been proven. If one recalls when the Green Party were last in government, it altered the motor taxation system to incentivise the purchase of diesel vehicles. The scheme was a phenomenal success, far more successful than anyone had expected at the time. In fact, its success has led to a problem with air quality in our cities caused by particulate matter because we discovered that diesel vehicles are far more polluting and damaging to air quality and life expectancy, particularly in cities, than petrol vehicles. When I was a member of Cabinet I made a submission on this to the Minister, and I previously made a submission to the committee on climate change. If we were to replicate the measures that were taken over a decade ago when the Green Party was last in government and altered motor tax on the basis of the actual emissions profile of vehicles, that would be a far more effective tool to drive the type of change we need. It would also act as a very effective congestion charge.

People living in Dublin who choose, despite having a bus route outside their door or access to the Luas, to sit in their diesel vehicles and drive 5 km to and from work on congested roads, have an emissions profile for their vehicles that is far higher than the profiles under the worldwide harmonised light vehicle testing procedure standards. A vehicle that travels long distances from a rural area would have a profile much closer to those in the laboratory tests because it is being driven at a much more efficient rate than vehicles in urban areas. My proposal would also incentivise people who travel and commute long distances to drive at 100 km/h rather than 120 km/h. As we all know, vehicles travelling at 100 km/h are far more efficient and produce far less emissions than vehicles travelling at 120 km/h. In the past, it was suggested that the speed limit on motorways be reduced to 100 km/h. If we used the actual emissions profile of each vehicle, we would not need to alter the speed limit because people would reduce speed by osmosis. This change would also encourage people to avoid travelling in rush hour and park their cars a bit further away from school or work and walk the last kilometre, thereby reducing the emissions profile of their vehicles.

How then do we measure the emissions profile of vehicles? This could be done through an altered national car test using new technology. If, at the end of the national car test, drivers received a certificate detailing the emissions profile and they taxed their vehicle based on that profile, it would be a far more effective tool. It would also incentivise people to choose HVO, which I spoke about earlier, as it has a reduced emissions profile compared with ordinary diesel. It would encourage people to convert diesel vehicles to natural gas or switch to petrol, hybrid and electric vehicles, which would be more efficient. Over time, this would be a far more effective tool in driving the type of change we need to see in Irish society. I know this would be unique to Ireland but it is the way we should go. For this reason, I oppose the approach being taken in sections 32 and 34.