Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

Not always. However, I wish he had got to grips with the anomalies. People went back to the Minister for Finance's commitment in the previous year. The public understood that environmental taxes of this nature were coming down the tracks. It was not just seen as a threat. Many people welcome change that will enable better practice, more conservation and reduced carbon emissions. Those who accepted the Minister for Finance's commitments and statements in the previous budget were very disappointed to find that a Green Party Minister was not, in fact, living up to them. I find that anomalous in itself, and that people who chose the most appropriate cars in terms of saving the planet now find they will be penalised for that. That seems to be a very regrettable outcome, not in the spirit of this taxation measure.

The other area the Minister needs to consider seriously — and it cannot be hived off to the Commission on Taxation — is how this might affect local authority funding. The local government fund depends on motor tax to a great extent. I believe it is about 70% of the fund. We have not had a clear answer in terms of what the impact will be on local authority funding. When the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, spoke about this in the previous year, he said it would be neutral in terms of taxation, but we do not have a guarantee now as regards local authority funding, which is a crucial issue that needs to be addressed.

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