Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Barrett for tabling this amendment. The contribution of the Members of this House allows for the most reflective debate on the issues. I acknowledge the professional information and the background studies that he has offered to the Department. I know they will be welcomed and will be considered, which is what he requested.

The Minister cannot accept the amendment today. He has no opposition in principle to the evaluation of the basis of charging for commercial vehicles but we cannot commit to particular timescales for completion of such an evaluation. We are aware of the report on the road haulage industry published in October by the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. At present, motor tax is payable on the basis of the unladen weight of a vehicle. It is generally accepted that unladen weight is not a satisfactory basis for motor tax and that it is out of line with the basis of taxation of commercial vehicles in other countries, which is generally based on gross design vehicle weight. There is no correlation between gross design vehicle weight and unladen weight. Care must be taken to ensure that if charges are applied in the future to the current fleet, motor tax rates are set in such a way that they do not lead to large increases for some owners and large reductions for others. Initial analysis undertaken last year by the Department on a sample of the commercial fleet would suggest there are large variations both up and down between unladen and gross weight design. This seems to be a particular issue for those vehicles in the 10,000 kg to 14,000 kg unladen weight categories. If the basis of taxation were to be changed, it would apply equally to all commercial vehicles, not just those over a certain weight. There has already been some consideration of the matter and once the Non-Use of Motor Vehicle Bill 2013, which is a priority for the Department, has been enacted, it is intended to review the basis of taxation for commercial vehicles.

The timescale for such review is subject to the resources of and competing demands on the Department and accordingly I cannot give an absolutely specific timescale for completion. We can certainly look at the correlation between gross design vehicle weight, which is readily available from the manufacturer's certificate of conformity, and the laden weight per axle as the Senator is suggesting. There are legal limits on axle weight and enforcement structures in place to ensure compliance. The road network is built to modern standards in full knowledge of the standards applicable. This helps to ensure that structural damage to the road network is prevented and ameliorated as much as possible. The tax rate applicable to the larger HGVs is already quite high, almost ¤5,200 per annum for over 20 tonnes. The industry has concerns about its competitiveness and this would obviously have to be understood.

I do not know if my reply has been helpful to Senator Barrett. The points he has made will be examined but we cannot commit to a timescale or what the outcome will be. We cannot accept the amendment as such. Within these parallel lines, we will do all the work that needs to be done to analyse the matter.