Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Finance if he will consider the proposal made in correspondence (details supplied) regarding an excise on rebate of diesel; if he will take the necessary action; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3831/13]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Finance if he will confirm that when the derogation to European Commission Energy Tax Directive 2003/96/EC ended, it applied in the same manner to all operators both public and private; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4128/13]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Finance if he has any plans to extend the excise rebate on diesel for haulage companies as announced recently, to include bus and coach companies in the context of the Finance Bill in view of his comments that a fuel rebate system could not under EU law be restricted to Irish licenced hauliers but would have to be extended to all vehicles intended exclusively for the carriage of goods by road with a maximum permissible gross laden weight of not less than 7.5 tonnes, the rebate would have to include the carriage of passengers by a motor vehicle of category M2 or category M3 as defined in Council Directive 70/156/EEC; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4130/13]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Finance his views on a matter (details supplied) in relation to excise rebate on diesel. [4179/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 237, 248, 249 and 258 together.

The proposal to introduce an auto-diesel excise duty relief for licensed road hauliers that I announced in the Budget is confined to licensed and tax compliant hauliers. However, I have received a number of submissions from, and on behalf of, private coach operators seeking to have this relief extended to them. I will consider these proposals and the level of the rebate in the context of the Finance Bill. It is worth noting that one of key arguments for introducing a rebate for the haulage industry is the fact that a large quantity of fuel purchased by this industry is purchased abroad thus generating no tax revenue for the State. A rebate should encourage hauliers to start purchasing their fuel in Ireland thus offsetting some of the costs involved. Such an argument does not exist for the most part for the coach industry.

The fuel rebate scheme proposed is governed by the terms of Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 which limits its application to auto diesel used in defined categories of road vehicles. On the matter of the derogation that has ended, it is assumed that the Deputy is referring to the derogation that allowed for the application of a reduced rate of mineral oil tax to fuel used for the purposes of certain road passenger services. I can confirm that the rebate applied to services operated by both private and public operators and was abolished in 2008. I will be informing the European Commission of the rebate measure once it is introduced.