Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

To correct the record, the benefit-in-kind zero rate is for a minimum of three years, not one. The Deputy is right that this needs to be a minimum, and the hope and intention is to extend that timeframe. In the budget we have maintained the grant relief, which is among the best in Europe, and we are also committing to bringing in a grant for the installation of home charges, not just for new vehicles but for second-hand vehicles, and to support electric vehicles for taxis, hackneys and limousines.

The Deputy is right that there has to be behavioural change. This year we established the behavioural economics unit within the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland to look specifically at this. However, we cannot shoehorn people into this. We need to take a number of strands. First, we need people, when they are purchasing, to purchase clean vehicles and zero emissions vehicles, but we also need to look at how we can retrofit the existing fleet to drive down emissions in the short term. The behavioural economics unit is looking at such issues and is feeding into the task force and into other measures within the Department. We are trying to proceed based on what was done in the past, for example, with the plastic bag tax and the smoking ban, which have dramatically transformed attitudes in this country in regard to health and the environment. There are other measures and initiatives. What was announced in the budget for 2018 is a first step but it is a very positive step. The feedback I have already received from commercial businesses in regard to the three-year benefit-in-kind suggests we will see a significant shift in 2018.

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