Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the U-turn by the Government on this issue. Just a couple of weeks ago the Minister's predecessor was arguing black and blue that people had enough time regardless of the cost-of-living crisis, which was put forward as an argument by me and others in terms of the changes to BIK.

The principle of how we apply taxes and try to change behaviour is one that I support. That is why this received support during the Finance Bill, I think in 2019. It is about trying to move to alternatives that are more environmentally friendly. In light of a cost-of-living crisis, I welcome the fact that the Minister has approached this in his first Finance Bill, because I know Ministers for Finance do not like to bring forward Finance Bills outside the normal schedule. Therefore, a very sensible position has been adopted by him unlike his predecessor, who stuck with what was legislated for regardless of the impact it had in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

I am interested in the way the Minister and his officials have approached this, because what we have not done is go back to where it was. It is a different proposal. The main proposal is not the reduction in the number of kilometres; it is the deduction of €10,000 from the original market value. Will that leave those subject to benefit in kind better off than where they were last year, in certain circumstances? Perhaps the Minister will talk us through how this would work for an individual.