Dan Boyle (Green Party)

We have come a long way since the time when many public representatives thought a carbon footprint was a piece of copying paper stuck to a shoe. There is now a real debate on the nature of the environmental damage caused by the previous failed policies of all parties that have been in government and on the need to address those policies.

It is undoubtedly true that car ownership and usage in Ireland is high by international standards. By necessity, this is due to the poor state of public transport, a challenge for everyone in public life to address. It is also true that the cultural use of motor vehicles has crept up here in that we have adopted the modes of behaviour of the United States. This must be addressed in respect of what our taxation system measures and encourages people to do, or otherwise, in the area of transport.

Senator Hannigan has just mentioned a highly important statistic regarding the increase in the number of children who are brought to, and collected from, school every day by car. Those who are involved in door-to-door campaigning and who address the concerns of parents who feel obliged to take their children to school in this fashion come up with the ultimate conundrum. Although people want their children to walk or cycle to school, they are unable to so do because the roads are filled with those who take their children to school by car. While such contradictions exist in our society, the question of the proper and necessary use of the motor car should constitute an important national debate.

As for the proposed system that will be imposed, it has been mentioned that its cut-off points mean there are anomalies because of the manner in which cars will be identified by the motor manufacturers on their petrol use and because it will be done both on a revenue-neutral basis and on a fuel-neutral basis. Some cars can be and have been converted. In future, Members will be obliged to consider how to address such anomalies. However, other measures have been in place such as the 50% VRT exemption for hybrid cars and the excise duty exemption for particular fuels. Those incentives have encouraged people to use such vehicles and many of the incentives in question will continue.

The issue of where we stand in respect of overall transport policy constitutes a major challenge for the Government and the political system. The national development plan is running ahead of schedule and ahead of budget in respect of its roads element but is running behind schedule in respect of its public transport elements. This discrepancy cannot be allowed to continue. We must bridge that gap and address the pre-existing imbalance between public transport and road-based alternatives. I hope the programme for Government has identified particular benchmarks as to when and how this could happen.

Another element of the Bill pertains to funding for local government. This Bill is revenue neutral in its structure. Although it will not allow additional resources to accrue to local authorities, it is structured in such a way that it will not lead to fewer resources being available. Whether it continues to be a significant part of local government funding is a matter for another debate that will follow after the impending publication of the Green Paper on local government. Members may be presented with another item of legislation that will address this anomaly.

I have heard the arguments regarding the claimed excessive taxation on motor vehicles and the money actually spent, for instance, on roads. This is a simple equation. Senator Coffey noted that €5.5 billion is collected in various taxes related to motor vehicles and one can establish how much is spent on the national roads and local roads programmes. However, one should factor everything into the cost of motoring for a society. I refer to the 360 road deaths per year and the associated costs to the health and emergency services, as well as the cultural cost of motoring. I revert to the statistics already noted by Senator Hannigan. As we are transporting our children around in this fashion and spending more time in cars, we have other problems regarding obesity and fewer opportunities in respect of exercise. When one makes an economic argument about the cost of a car to a society, one should take into account all these factors because they are not being judged at present.

Much of the Bill's contents were introduced owing to prior consultation with bodies such as the Society of the Irish Motor Industry. A consultation process that takes into account all the actors and the legislative process in both Houses of the Oireachtas will come up with the best possible Bill. However, the principle is important and I am glad it has been accepted because having moved on the idea of cars being taxed on the basis of their carbon content, one then can move on many other areas that will help to address the totality of climate change issues and greenhouse gases within society.

One must be aware, while depending on taxation of motor vehicles for local government funding, that the use of the motor car is not necessarily good for Ireland's overall economic health. All our cars are imported as none is manufactured here. The value added to Ireland's economy arising from the purchase of a car is limited. An ongoing and more wide-ranging debate is required on the value of motoring, how it is properly costed and how its tax returns measure to our society. This Bill constitutes an important beginning and I am thankful for the Minister's initiative and the Green Party's participation in Government for bringing it about.