Minister for the Environment John Gormley (Green) has defended the increases in motor tax charges, claiming they would ensure that local government would deliver a wide range of services across the community.
Mr Gormley said there had been no increase in motor tax rates since 2004 and "in that time, inflation had increased by over 15 per cent. The 9.5 per cent increase for the majority of vehicles is well below inflation in the intervening period."
Mr Gormley was introducing the Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill, which provides for the motor tax increases announced in the Budget and for the new tax system based on carbon emissions.
He will also introduce separate labelling legislation to provide information on a vehicle's CO2 emissions, based on the seven CO2 bands. This will be similar to the energy efficiency banding on electrical goods.
The new CO2-based tax system for vehicles comes into effect from July 1st when all new and pre-owned imported vehicles registered from that date will be charged based on seven emissions bands. Rejecting calls for the changes to apply retrospectively to low-emission cars already purchased, Mr Gormley said it "would not be appropriate to do so" because "there is no authenticated CO2 data for the majority of the existing fleet".
"If the new system were to be applied retrospectively, it would be unfair to penalise people for a purchasing decision made in the past. Nobody will pay more motor tax than they are paying at present."
He outlined statistics that 150,000 people bought a new car here every year and that from now on they would include "think carbon" in their list of requirements.
Fine Gael environment spokesman Phil Hogan described the legislation as "no more or less than a revenue-raising exercise".
He accused Mr Gormley of saying one thing and doing another.
"The Minister would have us believe this Bill is the be all and end all of reducing car emissions, which of course it is not. The Bill does not reward or encourage consumers who have already made a conscious environmental decision to buy a new or second-hand car with low carbon dioxide emissions. The blanket tax increases of 9.5 per cent for cars with engines up to 2.5 litres do not fit with the Minister's objective of encouraging people to be more environmentally aware."
Labour environment spokesman Ciarán Lynch said: "There is a danger that this legislation will penalise the owners of large family cars who are not in a position to buy a new car, which would be unfair. Those who own larger cars with cleaner emissions will have to pay more tax than those who own smaller cars which are less environmentally friendly."
