Dr. Niall Farrell:

We are talking about excise duties. The commission's report recommends the equalisation of excise duty between different fuels. I do not know the exact details but I think diesel has a lower excise rate. This was perhaps for historical reasons, that the haulage industry had no alternative. Going forward, that does not really hold water to the same extent if we are trying to decarbonise and we are moving towards electricity or perhaps hydrogen-based fuels. It incentivises private motorists to choose diesel instead of petrol cars which can have other impacts in terms of particulate matter etc. It is an implicit subsidy in the sense that there is a difference and then one is getting a benefit because there is not such a high charge for those using diesel car.