Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House to address this matter. The controversy around Volkswagen has caused people to focus on the issue. The Minister, or whoever holds the position after the election, will have a year long run-in to this but I ask him, nevertheless, if he will consider raising the tax on diesel relative to that on petrol. It should be done on a gradual basis so as not to affect too adversely people who are using diesel vehicles. The move towards diesel was influenced by scientific studies at the time of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which suggested that diesel vehicles emitted between 5% and 10% less pollution than petrol. Recent studies under the auspices of the World Health Organization, however, have classified diesel as a carcinogen causing lung cancer, bladder cancer and so on. Soot particles from diesel, which are very small, are finding their way into people's lungs. I am not suggesting that petrol is without its problems but the problem is particularly aggravated in urban areas where the damaging effect of diesel is worse due to its concentration.

After the Kyoto Protocol there was a gradual move from petrol towards diesel. This was understandable in the initial stages because the scientific evidence suggested it was a good idea and, in 2014, some 73% of new vehicles purchased in Ireland ran on diesel, while in Europe generally the total has risen to 53% of new purchases. Owing to the harmful effects of diesel, there is now a need to reverse this trend. In 2013, the European Commission noted that the economic policy on diesel fuel and car sales ignored the new reality. Diesel in Ireland is taxed at approximately 12% lower than petrol but in other countries, such as France and Belgium, they are moving towards the equalisation of tax on petrol and diesel. I ask that we move in a gradual manner in this direction. If we had a 4 cent rise in the price of diesel, it would yield approximately €80 million and such money could be used to improve public transport.

The general policy with regard to tax on fuel should be that the highest taxes be on the most damaging types of fuel and the lowest on the least damaging. This is beyond the issue of tax on fuel but people who use vehicles which are less damaging to the environment should also be compensated in some way, whether through their car tax or something else. We need to turn the negativity around the appalling deception of Volkswagen, which deliberately hid the extent of damaging emissions from its vehicles, into something positive. Research from the European Commission indicates that emissions from diesel cars can be 20 times worse than they appear to be under laboratory conditions. We need to use tax policy to protect the world environment and people's health as effectively as possible.

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