Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share my time with Deputy Thomas Pringle.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Low- and middle-income families are punch-drunk from austerity, cuts to services, increased taxes and increased excise duties, and motorists are no exception. I wish to make a plea for hard-pressed motorists. The Government should take the opportunity presented by this Bill to alleviate the pressure on these hard-pressed motorists by, as a minimum, reducing the quarterly and half-yearly motor tax rates on vehicles by bringing the rates into line with the annual rate. The Government should also reduce fuel tax, maintain the one-month grace period for payment and remove the administration fee provided for in this Bill.

In the towns and villages outside the big cities and in rural areas, a car is an absolute necessity and not a luxury. In many cases, particularly in rural Ireland, a family will need two cars as a necessity and not as a luxury. I came across an individual last week who is very hard-pressed and is under pressure with his mortgage. He lives in a rural area in County Tipperary. His wife works part-time in Limerick. She needs a car to get to work. He needs a car because he takes the children to school, which is seven miles from their home. The nearest pick-up point for the school bus is two miles away. Many people in rural Ireland face a similar situation. Public transport is not adequate outside the main cities; in fact, there is little or no public transport outside the big cities. In many cases, people need cars to travel to work and for normal activities such as taking children to school, doing the shopping and attending religious services. The financial pressure of running a car is a reality for many of these families. I refer to the shameful decision by the HSE to reduce the limit on travel-to-work expenses for those with medical cards. The first €50 is excluded from travel-to-work expenses. This is another attack on hard-pressed motorists, who are also workers travelling to work. I ask the Minister of State to advise his colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, to ask the HSE to reverse that change immediately.

I mentioned already the quarterly and half-yearly payments many motorists are forced to make, which costs them significantly more than if they were in a position to pay for motor tax annually. With contemporary information technology, there is no reason to have a higher rate for quarterly or half-yearly payments. Over 100,000 more tax discs were issued in 2012 than in 2010. Half-yearly disc issues fell from 742,000 to 682,000, while annual disc issues fell significantly also. In spite of the fact that 13,000 fewer cars were on the road in 2012, the tax take was higher - up to €1.05 billion. That is the result of a 7.5% increase in motor tax in the 2011 budget and a further increase of up to 20% in the 2012 budget. This is something the Government should address immediately through this Bill.

The Automobile Association has found that the number of breakdowns has significantly increased as a result of motorists' having to scrimp and save on maintenance and servicing costs. Fuel is a huge element of the cost of motoring, placing particular pressure on the hundreds of thousands who must use their cars to travel to work. I came across a case recently in which a gentleman had to take holidays as he did not have the money to put petrol in his car to transport him to work. It is an issue the Government must examine. The figures show that 57% of the cost of fuel is tax and excise. The typical Irish motorist uses some 1,800 litres of fuel - or 150 litres per month - to travel approximately 12,000 miles per year. This represents a cost of €243 per month on fuel alone. Of that, €138.50 is tax. It is an issue that should be addressed. We must remember that this is an island economy and that public transport is almost non-existent outside the larger cities. Cars are essential to people to do their daily business and to go to work. Some leeway should be given to motorists who are under great financial pressure as a result of austerity.

The Bill provides for the introduction of an administration fee, though not immediately. It should be removed, if only as a gesture of goodwill to motorists. The transfer of responsibility for driving licenses to the RSA takes further services away from local authorities. A particular difficulty that arises, about which every Member has been contacted, is the fact that a single provider will be used to provide photographs for the new licence. This measure will have serious repercussions for retailers nationally and will lead to job losses. It is an issue the Minister should take the opportunity to remedy in the Bill. Photographs from the normal, reputable retailers should be permissible.

As this is a road fund Bill, I raise the matter of the condition of our road network, particularly county roads. Many roads are in poor condition. Roads funding for local authorities has been reduced considerably over the last number of years, including this year. Anybody driving county roads nationally knows about the number of potholes and the problem of undermining of surfaces, particularly due to the bad weather of the last 12 months. The roads must be attended to urgently. If they are not, some of them will disintegrate, as others have already done. The Minister should make additional moneys available to local authorities to provide for remedial works to roads. I think of roads in Slieveardagh and west and south Tipperary which are in very bad or dangerous condition and require urgent maintenance and repair.

When he introduced the Motor Vehicles (Duties and Licenses) Bill 2013, the Minister confirmed that €46.5 million of motor tax income was transferred from the local government fund to the Exchequer in 2012. In 2013, up to €150 million will be transferred. The Minister says these are necessary measures to reduce the national debt. The transfer is disgraceful. The Minister should take the opportunity presented by the Bill before the House to refund the €196 million immediately to the local government fund. The money is urgently required by local authorities to repair and maintain roads across the country.

In speaking on the Bill, I make a plea for hard-pressed motorists. I ask that various amendments be brought forward to ensure that they are not further pressurised on foot of the recession. I ask that the county roads be looked after and that moneys transferred from the local government fund be returned and made available to local authorities for road maintenance.

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