Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I wish to share time with Deputies Twomey, Morgan and Cuffe.

I oppose this Bill. The Minister of State mentioned that the bills and moneys received as receipts from motor tax are topped up annually and that the fund is used to finance general purposes and needs for local authorities and non-national road grants. It would have been fair to do that in proportion to the taxes paid by each county, in particular counties Cavan and Monaghan and the Border counties. The level of receipts from motor tax returns from these counties is far above that of other counties in our neighbourhood. For example, the motor tax returns from County Monaghan amount to €10.07 million for 2003, for Cavan they amount to in the region of €10.6 million and for Louth approximately €15.53 million. By comparison, in neighbouring counties such as Longford the return was €5.6 million and in Leitrim, €4.6million. This should have been reflected in the amount of money coming back to the local authorities.

We need new bypasses for Monaghan and Cavan, the proposed cost of which seems high — for example, the Carrickmacross bypass is estimated at €28 million to €30 million, the Castleblayney bypass, approximately €112 million and the Monaghan bypass, phase one, €23 million and phase two, €57 million. The dates set are September 2004 for the Monaghan bypass and 2005-06 for the Castleblayney bypass. Would the Minister consider topping that up to give the boost required for these projects? We are paying more than our fair share of tax in these Border counties. We pay a very high proportion of the revenue from diesel which we sell to Northern Ireland. I would like to think that we would be considered in that respect.

As regards taxing cars and lorries, lorries are a large part of people's livelihoods in County Monaghan. Cars and other forms of transport are an absolute necessity. The people of counties Monaghan and Cavan do not have any choice in terms of the type of transport they use to get to work. They cannot get on a No. 7 or No. 46A bus. There was talk about putting a railway line between Kingscourt and Navan to give people an alternative form of public transport. However, that will not happen. The Minister should seriously consider funding bypasses in my constituency so that the people do not have to wait 20, 30 or 40 minutes to drive through Cavan town, Castleblayney or Monaghan town. Money should be pumped into these counties. The people have paid more than their fair share of tax.

Motorists are being hit with an unfair raft of disproportionate stealth taxes. Motorists could be described as punch drunk at this stage. Taxes amounting to €22,000 will be paid on a family car which costs approximately €21,500 over a ten-year period. The figure of €21,500 includes VAT of €4,500 and added taxes of €3,000. The total road tax on a car over a ten-year period would amount to €3,500 and estimated petrol taxes would amount to €10,000. That is based on 12,000 miles per annum and an average consumption of 30 miles per gallon. Insurance levies and VAT charges on servicing the car over a ten-year period would amount to a further €480. The already fleeced motorist is ripe for further plucking in the eyes of the Minister for Finance. This is in addition to a 12% increase in motor tax this time last year and a 7% increase in VRT on vehicles over 1900 cc. Motorists are seen as a means of getting more money.

Some years ago the heads of Europe's largest motoring organisations launched a new motorist charter in Brussels. The message was that the unfortunate motorist had had enough and that there should be a moratorium on new motoring and road tax increases. The Minister should take that on board. The Government might as well have been idle if its action since then is anything to go by. Taxes have continued to increase and that has led to a breakdown in trust between motorists and the Government. Europe's motorists pay in excess of €300 billion in taxes every year, yet only a quarter of that is reinvested in transport and mobility. As bad as the situation is internationally, our Government's record is worse. Last year the Government collected in excess of €3.8 billion in taxes from motorists, but it spent only approximately €715 million, or18%, on roads and transportation.

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