Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. While Fianna Fáil supports the Bill, we have some concerns. For example, the move towards in-advance declarations will reduce the scope for tax evasion but must be properly enforced in order to be effective and to have a positive impact on State revenues. Car owners should not be unfairly charged for making an off-the-road declaration, given that they will not be using that vehicle on the roads.

While efficiencies are welcome, the Government's transfer of driver licence issuance to the RSA, away from local authorities, is, in our view, symptomatic of a broader agenda by the Government to emasculate local government by stripping it of its powers. We had this debate in the House at the time, and it was made clear by us and others that this was yet another example of the removal of a function of local authorities. It seems to be set against the Government's stated agenda, which is to try to give more power to local authorities, and it was not possible to understand why this function was being taken away. However, this situation has been enshrined further in this Bill.

The Bill is to provide for a prospective system of declaring vehicles off the road for motor tax purposes, which is being done in order to reduce tax evasion. It seems the last major roadside survey of the extent of the problem was held as far back as 2001 and found there was a 5% non-compliance rate. More recent figures based on vehicles passing through the M50 toll on four dates in 2010 and 2011 showed that approximately 7% did not have up-to-date motor tax discs. If the evasion rate is 5%, this means approximately €50 million in revenue is lost each year in motor tax evasion, but this may be as high as €88 million. Nobody can stand over those figures. Certainly, at a time when local authorities are cash-strapped, and given that much of the money is going back to local authorities, any effort to address this issue of evasion is to be welcomed.

We suggest the Bill will have a positive environmental impact in that owners may be more likely to go to legitimate waste operators when scrapping cars in order to obtain a certificate of destruction as, without this, owners may be liable for the off-the-road declaration indefinitely. There is one aspect I am curious to know about. What happens, for example, to a car that is involved in an accident where the local garage owner decides that, while the car could be restored to roadworthiness, it will not go back on the road and will be left until such time as the parts are sold, but it is not actually destroyed and the car is still an entity? What is the law in this regard and does the status quo apply? I understand the normal procedure is that a garda would sign an off-the-road declaration, which is then legally valid. Does this situation change under the new law? In that context, the Minister of State might clarify what happens to those cars that are already disposed of but that have not received a certificate of destruction, given that the two questions are related.

The prevention of continuing abuse is dependent on sufficient enforcement by the Garda and we feel that industrial disputes with members of the Garda Representative Association could undermine the impact of this Bill. The decision of the GRA, for example, to exercise its discretion and not issue fines for revenue-gathering offences, including motor tax offences, undermines the capacity of the Bill to raise revenue. The Minister of State might have a view on this. We would suggest this is part of the consequence of the somewhat dangerous adversarial and contemptuous approach by the Minister towards An Garda Síochána, as exemplified in recent weeks.

In light of these issues, it has been suggested that consideration could be given to creating a system similar to that being used for speed check cameras, whereby the detection of motor tax evasion could be contracted out to a private firm. Alternatively, given that many of the country's tollbooths record the registration numbers of the vehicles passing through them, it could be possible to use this information, with appropriate legislative foundation.

Once again, I emphasise that enforcement is the key to successful implementation of this Bill. The prospect of charging for off-the-road certificates was raised and the Minister of State pointed out that this would not be included, at least in the initial years. However, we suggest it would be deeply unfair for drivers to be charged for non-operative vehicles that are not being used on the roads.

As I said, the Bill provides for transitional financial arrangements following the transfer of the driving licence function from licensing local authorities to the Road Safety Authority. While Fianna Fáil supports the EU directive standardising driving licences across the Continent, due to the obvious conformity and security benefits, the removal of the role of local authorities does reflect a broader emasculation of local government. For example, Cork County Council offers an on-the-spot licence renewal system that will now be lost with centralisation. It is important that we recognise the benefits local flexibility can enable, and not simply engage in knee-jerk centralism.

On another aspect, is there a suggestion that the flexibility that is built into the current system, whereby gardaí can give a period of grace of up to one month to have one's motor tax renewed, is being removed completely? While I am not sure this comes within the scope of the Bill, the Minister of State might advise whether there is any change in this discretionary provision. What is the legal situation in regard to a driver whose tax is perhaps a week or two out of date?