Madam, - It appears that our Minister for the Environment is not quite as green as he would have us believe. I refer, of course, to the expected changes to motor taxation ( The Irish Times, November 12th).
In essence, Mr Gormley is reportedly planning to do exactly what his Government partners have been doing for years, which is to use cubic capacity as a basis for levying taxes. The larger the engine, the higher the tax. More enlightened countries base their motor tax levels on the amount of CO2 emitted from an engine regardless of cubic capacity.
The Minister is expected to increase the levels of taxation on all cars over 1400cc. This would not reduce CO2 emissions, but actually increase them. For instance, a 1400cc petrol-driven VW Golf emits 165 grams of CO2 per kilometre, while the 1900cc VW Golf Diesel produces only 132 grams of CO2 per kilometre (manufacturer's figures).
All motor manufacturers are obliged to publish CO2 figures for their products. Mr Gormley has instant access to this information so there is no excuse in pleading ignorance. If he is serious about cutting pollution levels, he should favour the least polluting cars by using CO2 levels as a taxation yardstick. - Yours, etc,
JACK LEIGHTON, Mullenmore North, Co Mayo.
Madam, - The Government has set maximum permitted carbon emissions levels for new buildings, despite a rather incompetent construction industry and no effective means of enforcing compliance.
We cannot, however, bring ourselves to set maximum carbon emissions for cars, though these are produced in extremely high-quality control environments and we do have a mandatory NCT test every two years.
No private owner without a very large family needs to drive a car which emits more than 120 grams of CO2 per kilometre, yet we continue to allow the sale of cars that emit up to 500g/km merely to indulge the rich, the silly, the irresponsible, and men with mid-life crises.
We don't having higher VAT levels for toys with high lead or mercury content, we simply ban them.
Minor tinkering with different tax bands and different VRT bands for engine size and emission levels tacitly concedes the principle that any level of pollution is tolerable so long as the vehicle owner is rich enough to pay for it.
There needs to be a limit on pollutant emissions from cars, and cars that exceed it should be offered for sale. - Yours etc,
PAT BARRY, North Circular Road, Dublin 7.