Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On a positive light, when people go to a Garda station to say that their car has not been driven for X amount of time and therefore they do not have to pay their motor tax, it is commonly referred to as gapping. We are dealing with that. The loss to the Exchequer is believed to be approximately €55 million per annum. The matter will be dealt with shortly. The Minister, Deputy Hogan, has a file with the Attorney General on the issue. We are ensuring that does not happen. In future one will have to declare in advance that one’s car will be off the road before one can benefit. Whatever happens in this or any other budget, any changes the Government makes will be in line with the terms of reference of the review which we announced last year. The adjustment of CO2 bands and rates of VRT and motor tax in line with technological advances in motor vehicles will maintain a positive environmental incentive to reduce transport emissions and ensure a stable funding base for motor taxes. If anything were to happen, one would still have an incremental difference.

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