Bus Éireann is entitled to a rebate of excise duty for fuel purchased in the State, but consumed on Bus Éireann services outside, the Supreme Court decided yesterday in an appeal hearing.
The court was satisfied that under Section 2 of the 1932 Road Traffic Act, Bus Éireann was entitled to a rebate on fuel purchased here but used on road passenger services between the State and the United Kingdom.
But the central issue was the interpretation of "road passenger service" of the same Act.
While routes between the State and Northern Ireland would have been within the contemplation of the Oireachtas when the 1932 Act was drawn up, Mr Justice McCracken said, the real issue was to determine the intention of the legislature at the time the Act was passed.
He said the problem arose because of services between the State and the UK. The Revenue argued there were two road passenger services; one within the State to the Border, and the other, which was not a road passenger service within the Act, which operated within the UK.
Mr Justice McCracken said this was a most unlikely intention of the Act. The purpose of the licensing provision was to protect the public and it seemed incomprehensible, he argued, that that protection would be ignored once the bus reached the UK.