Madam, - Your edition of January 22nd reported that Dublin City Council was proposing that "SUVs and other big cars will be charged twice as much for parking outside their homes as drivers of smaller, more fuel-efficient cars".
The cost of this premium rate will be €80 a year; the standard rate is €40.
If councillors believe an extra €40 will dent the pocket of a motorist who has paid a minimum of €30,000 to €40,000 for a SUV, they must be totally naive.
If we Irish are serious about global warming, then all SUVs - save perhaps those used by farmers and tradesmen - should be subject to an annual tax charge of 10 per cent of the vehicle's original sales value. This might just conceivably deter potential purchasers of new and particularly second-hand SUVs and it would be a simple tax to operate.
Unless draconian measures are taken now Dublin City Council will stand indicted for Nero-style governance. Let councillors think again about their own grandchildren and have the guts to take this problem seriously. - Yours, etc,
ALAN COOK, The Coppins, Foxrock, Dublin 18.