John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

The SIMI has been lobbying for the introduction of a scrappage scheme for cars over ten years, and that involves a reduction in vehicle registration tax. These are matters for the Minister for Finance.

While a scrappage scheme could reduce CO2 emissions it should be noted that Ireland now has a relatively modern vehicle fleet. There are already incentives in place, and people are availing of those incentives. When they are purchasing a car they are moving towards the lower bands, and 85% of the new car purchases are in those lower bands.

We will have to examine what the SIMI is advocating but this problem is not unique to Ireland. We have had a global downturn and as we have seen, the motor industry in the United States is experiencing a serious problem, likewise in Britain and Germany where the car manufacturing industries are under real threat. It is a phenomenon whereby during an economic downturn people do not change their cars as often as they would in good times. That is the position, unfortunately.

See this speech in context