Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)

These changes to the commercial vehicle tax rules kicked in late last year having been introduced by a former Minister, John Gormley. The Fine Gael Party and our party came out against this at the time, as well as Mr. Conor Faughnan. It was made clear that the system would create a mess and have an impact on Garda resources, as gardaí would have to chase workers in their vans to see if the people had left their mothers to mass or children to school. It is a nonsensical regulation which reflected the lack of understanding of rural Ireland from the former Minister, John Gormley, backed by the Fianna Fáil Government of the time. In rural Ireland a vehicle is needed for everything and public transport is unavailable. A vehicle is a core part of living and getting by in rural areas.

Deputy Doherty and I have been inundated with complaints from across Donegal and we have checked with other rural Deputies, who also report an impact. Essentially, this is another device to take money from people to pay the EU, the IMF and banks; the money is not even going into schools, hospitals or roads. It is another tax affecting this area.

My colleague and I call on the Government to review this immediately so that a bit of common sense can be introduced. We must realise that it is outrageous to place this tax on small businesses, with most of the affected people from rural areas. The rule is that a commercial vehicle can only be used for work purposes. I ask for common sense to come through in an immediate review of the issue.

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