John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The public consultation process on motor tax made it clear that the new CO2 based system would apply from a specified date and that cars registered before that date would continue to be taxed in future years under the existing motor tax system related to engine size.

Retrospection prior to 2008 would not be practical as there are no authenticated CO2 data for the majority of the existing fleet. The CO2 values on the Revenue and NVDF systems, in respect of new cars only, have not heretofore been used for any business purpose, have not been collected as the basis for a fiscal charge and, accordingly, have not been authenticated to any degree. It would be unsound to apply charges on the basis of such data.

The clear objective of the new motor tax system is to influence the purchasing decisions of consumers. Purchasers of cars with low CO2 emissions will be rewarded while a premium will be charged on vehicles with high CO2 emissions.