Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

Given ever-increasing energy prices, these types of initiatives are not even toe in the water measures. If the Minister is serious about trying to transfer energy dependence from imported and fossil fuels, his officials should be taking a more proactive role in these measures.

Do the VRT relief measures for flexible fuel vehicles apply to motors imported by individuals rather than the standard importation of large numbers of vehicles for dealerships? There might be an avenue open to people to avail of this relief because of better technologies in other jurisdictions.

In terms of both measures, what does the Minister hope the possible take-up will be by the end of this budgetary year? If he thinks that only several dozen people will have availed of the first measure by his next and final budget and the second measure will not yet have come into force, he will not be able to tell the House that he has introduced any measure that has been effective in terms of tackling energy dependency.

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