Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

This is an appeal to the Government for common sense. We note the Fine Gael Party initially opposed this measure and up to now, colleagues in the party in Donegal and elsewhere in rural Ireland have called for a review. Sinn Féin has had the opportunity to raise the matter for the first time in this new Dáil.

Boiling the matter down, it is a tax on rural Ireland and small businesses. It is a silly measure that was just another way to find money. There is more to the issue as the penalties involved are quite severe. This new rule will apply an average tax of approximately €1,200 instead of a reduced rate for a commercial motor vehicle of €288. It is an average increase of €900 for people moving from the commercial to the private tax. As Deputy Mac Lochlainn mentioned, this involves people dropping kids off to school or collecting them from a childminder. It will take in people going to the shop on the way home from work. They will not be allowed to do any of this as they are bound under this rule to sign a declaration in a Garda station indicating that the vehicle will not be used at any time for social, domestic or pleasurable purposes. If these people break the rule, they can fined or imprisoned. I spoke earlier about bankers walking away scot-free but under these rules, ordinary people will suffer severe penalties.

The Minister of State may not have a direct response to this tonight but I ask for the issue to be considered in the context of the upcoming jobs initiative or budget, where the Government, like all of us, is seeking to create jobs. We can do that here. It does not make sense for us to ask the self-employed man or woman, who needs a van for work and who may want to collect their children or go to the shop, to buy a separate car. That will place an unnecessary burden on people. These people must have tax clearance certificates and other red tape, which we all want to reduce.

If the Minister does not have a direct reply tonight, I ask for this measure to be eliminated in the jobs initiative. As my colleague has mentioned, much of this is taking up Garda resources, with gardaí checking the back of cars to ensure there is no shopping from Aldi, Dunnes Stores or the local grocer. It does not make sense.

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