Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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188. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans, or if consideration will be given to a proposal, to allow for motor tax to be paid in monthly instalments, by direct debit, which would make the charge more manageable for families with two cars; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18742/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I have no plans currently to introduce a system of monthly direct debit payments for motor tax.

Any such proposal would require to be underpinned by robust legislation to ensure that there is a system in place to recoup income lost to the taxpayer where there are insufficient funds in personal accounts to meet the payment or where a direct debit or standing order option is cancelled by the account holder once a disc is issued. It would also be necessary to introduce provisions to enable recovery of the disc where required. The resultant additional enforcement requirements would also be likely to increase the cost of operating the system.