The Government fleet of ministerial cars is to take delivery later this month of its first so-called "environmentally friendly" vehicles that run on both petrol and electricity.
The cars, two luxury high performance saloons that can travel at up to 250kph, will be delivered to Minister for Natural Resources Noel Dempsey and Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, who have both requested eco-friendly vehicles.
The cars, the Lexus 450H GS are marketed as being much more fuel-efficient than traditional petrol cars, and attract generous tax breaks from the Government for being part electrically propelled. They are believed to have cost €70,000 each.
However, it has emerged that the 3.5 litre engines produce more emissions than luxury diesel cars or standard petrol family cars. Yesterday a spokesman for Mr Roche defended the purchase, saying the cars produced up to 30 per cent less emissions than similar petrol-only cars. Mr Roche wanted to "set an example" on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The new Lexus is powered by a hybrid engine, a traditional petrol engine augmented by an electric motor, which is powered by batteries recharged from the energy used in applying the brakes.
The new model has also highlighted an anomaly in the Government's tax system in that even though it is less environmentally friendly in terms of emissions than a large proportion of petrol and diesel cars, it qualifies for a vehicle registration tax rebate of more than €10,000 because it is a hybrid.
It produces just over 1.8 tonnes of greenhouse gases for every 10,000 kilometres driven. A standard 1.6 litre petrol car normally produces between 1.5 and 1.7 tonnes.