Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

We once asked a teacher in school whether he had any favourites, to which he replied that he did not because he hated us all equally. There is a touch of that attitude about this Bill. The anomalies in it have grown since the Minister first brought it into the House. New rates were to apply in July without retrospection; we were then told that the owners of all low emission cars registered this year could opt in in respect of the new rates but that those who had purchased in or before 2007 could not do so. Now we are being told that the benefits of new rates will not be extended to the buyers of imported low emission cars. We have had three positions since the Minister first brought the Bill into the House.

The overall intent of the Bill is positive. The Bill moves the system of taxation on cars from a structure based on engine size to one based on carbon emissions. That is positive and long overdue. People bought low emission cars at a time when it was neither fashionable nor profitable to do so. When the Minister was asked if he would take that part of the national fleet into account and ensure the new motor tax system would apply to the people in question, he said we were out of order. The figures show that less than 2% of the national car fleet is affected. It is not a major sum of money and the Minister is on record as saying there is a conflict between the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. If the amendment had been passed, it would have sent a signal that those doing the right thing would benefit under the taxation system. This is a missed opportunity. I regret to say the Minister missed it by coming down on the side of the Revenue Commissioners rather than the Department. He has moved the goalposts three times on this issue due to the lobbying of the motor industry. It is not a consumer driven decision.

The rationale in favour of retrospection from May 2004 has been outlined clearly by Deputy Hogan and even by the Minister on Committee Stage when he stated the CO2 figures were in place since that date. I implore him at this late stage to rectify the flaw in what is otherwise a very fine Bill. The House needs to send a message that when a new taxation system is introduced with a view to improving the environment, persons currently doing the right thing will benefit retrospectively.

See this speech in context