Jimmy Harte (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. There are a couple of very important points to be made in the debate. I have been in the insurance industry for many years. There is a social aspect to motor taxation as there is a social aspect to tax on alcohol as both are products that can cause death and suffering. We have to be cognisant of that fact. In Donegal there are a couple of lobby groups and politicians who, one week, call for the abolition of vehicle registration tax, saying it is illegal, and the next week the county councillors say young people need to be educated in motor vehicle safety. Those recommending the abolition of motor taxation or vehicle registration tax are basically saying that young people can get a bigger car cheaper and they expect them to be responsible. As an insurance broker I would have had a father or mother come to my office asking to have little Johnny put on their insurance, saying he was very careful and would only go out in the evening with his father to drive. I knew little Johnny was going around the street with the dust rising behind the car. We have a responsibility to families. There is a social tax aspect that has to be added to motor taxation as well as a revenue generation aspect. If there was no motor taxation and no vehicle registration tax, while others call for cheaper insurance for young people, the scenario would be that every young person would have a car, the result of which would be more devastation on the roads.

As in the case of alcohol we have to put in place a certain social tax aspect for revenue generation that will discourage young people who do not need a car to be on the road. We must balance that with putting people off the road because motor taxation is too expensive, especially in country areas where there is no public transport worth talking about. It may be a debate for another day as to how to tax motor vehicles in such a way as to discourage young people from using them, while at the same time there is a need for revenue for the repair of potholes in areas such as Donegal and the road cleaning services. The debate on emissions is important and we cannot get away from it and, therefore, we have to balance it correctly. We do not have a choice. There are groups, especially in Donegal, who have called for cheaper vehicles for young people to get on the road but that is not helpful. A motor vehicle is a dangerous weapon as it can and does cause damage.

I commend the Bill to the House.