Feargal Quinn (Independent)

It is fair to say that while we do not particularly welcome the Bill, it is better to get it in and out and behind us. I have a real difficulty with the legislation and the tax system in regard to cars. I am delighted the Minister intends to look at this area as it needs examination. I cannot believe gardaí, who decided on a vocation to protect the nation, have to spend so much time standing at the roadside, stopping cars to look at the windscreen to see if there is a tax disc. We have so many CCTV systems, toll roads and other systems that there must be a better system available.

The immediate question to ask is why do we not tax petrol and diesel more instead of taxing the car itself. As I told Senator Mooney the other day, my father had a ballroom at Red Island holiday camp way back in the 1950s when there was a tax on dancing of 25% so, if there was a 6 shilling ticket, 1s 6d went to the taxman. The ballroom owners did not particularly like this so they held a big meeting in Dublin and suggested that, instead, there should be a tax on the square footage of the ballroom, given owners would squeeze far more dancers into the ballroom than they should. They were overwhelmingly in favour of this until my father told them that back in the 1920s there had been a tax on cars and the motor industry called for a tax on petrol instead. The Government of the day said "What a good idea" and promptly taxed petrol as well as cars. Needless to say, the whole effort fell apart. Therefore, I am loath to ask the Minister to tax petrol rather than cars because somebody in the Department might suggest something else.

On the issue of taxation, the Revenue Commissioners collect income tax, the universal social charge, capital gains tax and corporation tax. Local authorities meanwhile collect commercial rates, business improvement tax, district tax levies and the non-principal private residence tax. An Post collects television licence fees and dog licence fees. Imagine that: we still have dog licence fees. The Private Residential Tenancies Board collects the residential landlord tax, and all of this is without mentioning new taxes such as water charges and the septic tank charge.

The various tax collection systems seem to be highly inefficient. In France, for example, rates are collected with electricity bills. In addition, people who do not have television sets must opt out of the licensing system rather than opting in, although I accept the system here is changing. One of the most blatant examples of inefficiency is the motor taxation system. While I am not going to oppose the Bill because it is certainly coming through in a manner we have to accept, it does not seem to make sense. I would like the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister for Finance to get to work on finding whether we can have a better, more efficient and more sensible way of collecting taxes.