Dáil debates

Tuesday, 14 June 2022

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Transport Policy

9:40 pm

Photo of Neasa HouriganNeasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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70. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the measures that his Department is taking to curb new sales of larger cars given the environmental and road user safety issues with such vehicles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30620/22]

Photo of Brian LeddinBrian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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91. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the steps that he is taking to address the uptake and sales of larger, heavier, energy inefficient vehicles on roads, their impact on road safety and health outcomes of road traffic collisions and the liveability of town and city centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30699/22]

Photo of Patrick CostelloPatrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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What measures will the Department take to curb the sales of larger cars, considering the environmental and road safety issues with such vehicles?

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 70 and 91 together.

My Department is currently focused on delivering a number of existing measures in our climate action plan, sustainable mobility policy and road safety strategy, none of which propose the introduction of a curb on new vehicle sales on the basis of a vehicle's size. However, our existing approach to the taxation of motor vehicles through vehicle registration tax, VRT, is already designed to encourage a shift to improved emissions performance and my Department continues to engage with the Department of Finance on further possible improvements. I note that budget 2021 introduced a revised charging structure for VRT bands based on the new worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedure, WLTP, emissions test to better reflect real driving data, which follows the introduction of a nitrogen oxide surcharge in budget 2020.

I am also aware of recent studies which reflect the fact that while the standards imposed on vehicle manufacturers have led to an overall reduction in tailpipe emissions in new vehicles, an increasing trend towards the purchase of larger vehicle models can bring significant environmental and air quality risks with the increased shedding of toxic particulate matter through increased tyre wear. This is a risk which may also apply to heavier electric vehicle models.

Given the increased risk to vulnerable and other road users involved in collisions with heavier vehicles, I believe we need to take a wider holistic approach and shift to more sustainable transport modes and reduce our level of private car use more generally, which will improve overall well-being and make our urban centres more attractive places to live.

My Department’s recently published sustainable mobility policy and Five Cities Demand Management Study sets out the vision and actions we will take. I recently established a leadership group and delivery team to oversee and drive implementation of the sustainable mobility policy and delivery of its action plan over the next three years.

Photo of Patrick CostelloPatrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister of State. There are some encouraging points. Realistically, the current scheme for reducing larger vehicle numbers is not working. Sales of sports utility vehicles, SUVs, are going through the roof. SUVs emit more pollution. They are more likely to hit pedestrians and are more likely to cause serious injury. We need to curb the sales of SUVs, especially in built-up areas. Other jurisdictions are looking at this. Authorities in Washington DC want to charge residents more for heavy trucks and SUVs, including for all the reasons that the Minister of State mentioned, such as particulates. That is a perfect example of why electric cars are not the panacea we think they are. There has been much talk in here tonight about encouraging people to use public transport. There has been a lot of strong support for public transport, the measures to cut fares and to incentivise public transport. We need a carrot and a stick. We need to get serious about the ever-growing size of SUVs and do something that actually works to reduce them, while also continuing with the carrot of public transport, which we have all supported this evening.

Photo of Alan FarrellAlan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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We need to re-evaluate the carrot approach in order to remove people from larger electric vehicles. The electric equivalent of even the smallest combustion engine car on the market is heavier and that applies in the vast majority of cases. The approach of using existing taxation to help people to purchase a particular car because that is their tax point, as well as the taxation effect that affects the ability of people in the upper echelons to purchase a vehicle, needs to be re-evaluated as the State's means of discouraging people from purchasing larger cars. It needs significant research. It would be premature for us to start talking about those discussions. I stress that I am talking about electric vehicles, not petrol or diesel vehicles.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I hate to disagree with my more learned colleagues on this subject, but I know a little about it too.

We need to be careful not to scare people away from the remedy to our issue, the emissions. The way to do it is by electric vehicles. Whether the car is large or small, it needs its space on the road. More importantly, at the present time we need to encourage car users and owners to move in that direction in the knowledge that we are doing something to reduce emissions and doing it now.

9:50 pm

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies. It is clear from their contributions that we need to take a wider holistic approach to this. We are doing an awful lot in respect of public transport and active travel. There was a question today, for which the Deputy was not present, about electric vehicle charging points and the roll-out of charging infrastructure. It is very clear that a large part of reducing emissions here will be the roll-out of electric vehicles particularly for people in rural Ireland who may not always have access to public transport.

On the VRT charge on cars, it is calculated using carbon dioxide emissions. The higher the car's emissions, the more VRT is payable. It is also important to acknowledge new research indicating that almost 2,000 times more particle pollution is produced by tire wear than is pumped out of exhausts of modern cars. This is new research that we all need to take on board. The Fit for 55 package of measures includes a proposal to revise the carbon dioxide emissions standards for cars and light goods vehicles as currently set out in EU regulation 2019/631. The Commission has proposed an outright ban from 2035 on the sale of new ICE cars and vans coupled with a strengthening of emissions reductions targets for vehicle manufacturers ahead of that date. A number of measures are coming in at EU level as well, further reducing carbon dioxide emissions and stimulating a wider deployment of zero emissions vehicles by triggering manufacturers to increase the supply of zero emissions vehicles.

Photo of Patrick CostelloPatrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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The best thing we can do is not go electric. Particularly in urban environments, the best thing we can do is support active transport and public transport, things this Government is doing. Supporting public transport runs into road blocks when we have bigger and bigger cars on the road which are taking up the spaces buses and bikes should be in and contributing to pollution and traffic than people on buses or bikes will. We are supporting public and active transport. Everyone here has been arguing for that in their questions since I came into the Chamber tonight. We need to do more. As well providing support, we need to be looking at the harm that is being caused by more and more vehicles, which are getting larger and larger, on our roads. They are having a serious deleterious effect. They need to be addressed at the same time as all the sustainability, public transport and activity transport work that we are doing and that is welcome.

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Electric vehicles play a central role in COP 21 with a target of 175,000 EVs on our roads by 2025 and 945,000 EVs on the road by 2030. There are currently more than 58,000 EVs registered on Irish roads. That is since the end of April 2022. By 2030, the abatement impact for an additional 845,000 passenger EVs is estimated to be about 2.5 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This figure is informed by the Department of Transport's modelling of the projected car fleet profile for the climate action plan 2021. It is important to say that it is a combination of measures, a multi-modal transport system, including public transport, active travel and electric vehicles. Road safety is obviously critical to that. We have a very ambitious road safety plan. All of those measures are going to be important to have a sustainable transport network. It is not just one form of transport that will see us meeting our climate emissions reductions.