Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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Question 80: To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to introduce a scheme to assist hauliers with the cost of diesel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11893/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I recognise that the price of fuel has increased in recent times. The increase in the price of fuel is an international phenomenon. Fuel prices are driven by a number of factors including the price of oil on international markets, exchange rates, production costs and refining costs. The rise in oil prices over recent periods reflected additional factors such as geopolitical uncertainty in Northern Africa and the Middle East with potential supply disruptions. There is currently some limited scope under the EU Energy Tax Directive to apply a lower rate of excise on auto-diesel for commercial use. However, any relief here would be extremely expensive especially in the current fiscal environment. The excise on auto-diesel is currently around 20 cents lower here than the UK. Furthermore, a lower commercial rate would require an extensive rebate system which would be administratively difficult, costly to operate and open to abuse.

The issue of rising fuel prices was discussed by the Finance Ministers at a recent ECOFIN meeting where the approach taken in 2005 and again in 2008, when oil prices were high, was reconfirmed i.e. a co-ordinated approach was endorsed towards not making distortionary fiscal adjustments.

For these reasons it is not proposed to introduce a tax rebate scheme to assist hauliers.