Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 525 and 526 together.

The total number of vehicles in the fleet (based on the number of vehicles under current taxation at 31 December for each year up to 2013) and gross receipts from 2008 to date are as follows:

-	Total number of vehicles	Gross motor tax receipts (€)
2008	2,497,568	1.058bn
2009	2,467,660	1.057bn
2010	2,416,387	1.023bn
2011	2,425,156	1.010bn
2012	2,403,223	1.054bn
2013	2,482,557	1.137bn
2014 (at 31 October)	2,501,206 *	995m

* there are also some 124,000 vehicles currently declared off the road.

Between 2009, when budgetary increases in motor tax took effect, and 2011, there was a year on year decline in motor tax receipts. Receipts increased in 2012 and 2013 due to further motor tax increases in those years. While there were no increases in motor tax in 2014, there is expected to be a further increase in motor tax receipts due to the change in procedure for declaring vehicles off the road, which is also a factor in the recent increases in vehicle numbers, along with increases in the fleet size resulting from economic buoyancy. Receipts are expected to be in the order of €1.16bn by year-end.

There has been a change in composition of the private vehicle fleet, with a gradual switchover from vehicles taxed based on engine capacity to vehicles taxed based on carbon emissions, which carry a lower average tax. Total receipts from private vehicles for 2008 to the end of October 2014 are set out below. The proportion of the total receipts from engine capacity vehicles is gradually reducing; apart from 2013, arising from a combination of budget increases and the changes to the procedures for declaring vehicles off the road, the overall trend is for a decline.

Receipts	2008 (€m)	2009 (€m)	2010 (€m)	2011 (€m)	2012 (€m)	2013 (€m)	2014 (to 31 October (€m)
Private (engine capacity)	853.0	835.4	784.8	752.8	751.7	760.2	641.4
Private (CO 2)	10.2	36.9	58.4	78.5	121.5	168.5	177.9
Total Private Cars	863.2	872.3	843.2	831.3	873.2	928.7	819.3

The number of CO₂vehicles as a proportion of the overall private vehicle fleet has been increasing by about 5% year on year and, at the end of October 2014, comprised almost 34% of the total. Most of the replacement fleet is now in the 2 lowest emissions tax bands which carry relatively low tax rates – 95% of all cars now purchased are in the A and B bands. It could be expected that this trend may continue in the future; however, it could also be expected that the numbers of vehicles in the fleet should increase in the future as economic growth indicators continue to improve. Motor tax receipts and rates are kept under regular review.