Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

Will the Minister agree that motorists have become something of a soft target? To put a car on the road now, the average tax contribution is over €2,500 and as the Minister's reply has revealed, that contribution is growing rapidly. Will the Minister accept it is time to reassess the extent to which we depend on this type of expenditure tax on what is for many people a necessity in terms of their livelihood? Does he sense that this huge growth in tax in this area, which the Minister seldom adverts to — the concentration is exclusively on what I believe he said yesterday was a €4 a week reduction in income tax that he secured——

See this speech in context