Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is very disappointing to see increases in VRT, motor tax and the trade licence plates. Not only will this affect ordinary citizens, it will affect the motor industry. We talked about giving a fuel rebate to the haulage industry, which is welcome, but we are obliterating it through these increases. The Taoiseach said his main reason for basing this on lower emissions was the loss of revenue. This is not a good enough excuse. We originally advertised for people to buy cars on the basis of low emissions and we made a big meal of it. Now, we are reneging on the promise and it is unacceptable. Part of the promise was the Kyoto Agreement on emissions. The measure was beefed up as if it would help on the emissions side. Where does that leave us if we are in breach of the Kyoto agreement as a result? This has not been properly examined. Could we not have introduced a scrappage scheme or something for the motor industry? That would have been a good idea.

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