Minister takes the wrong
turn
ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley is now reportedly
calling for increased road tax on vehicles over 1600cc in
an unimaginative attempt to discourage people from using
larger vehicles while he at the same time supports his
Government's equally unenlightened roads programme.
And he said, following Bord Pleanála's approval of
the waste incinerator at Ringsend in Dublin, that he will
now push for policies to make incinerators redundant.
Well, minister, why are you not pushing for a decent
public transport system and give those of us who have to
use our cars an alternative.
Currently our trains are severely overcrowded and Dublin
Bus admits it has the capacity to transport only 20% of
the potential travelling public.
How many times do our politicians need to be told before
they see the real cause of the problems with our
transport system?
We are not being given a reasonable alternative.
You can build 20 M3s and destroy even more historic sites
like Tara, but the national roads programme will not
solve the problems in our cities and larger towns.
Minister, when you have a decent, modern, efficient
public transport system in place, then you can increase
taxes on larger cars.
But first use some imagination. The motorist, willingly
or unwillingly, contributes enormously to the public
purse already.
If you must pursue your current proposal, then relate the
increase to the emission level of the vehicle and not
simply to the engine capacity.
Many 2000cc vehicles have lower emission levels than some
1400cc vehicles.
In fact, minister, while your at it, why not abolish road
tax altogether and put a green levy on the litre of fuel
instead. The more you use, the more you pay. How much
fairer (greener) would that be?
Think of the savings that could be made in many quarters
by just this one simple move - the paper used in
documenting this system, the garda time wasted on the
street and in the courts processing the system.
And what's more, you would even collect the levy every
time anyone uses a lawnmower, strimmer, chainsaw,
generator or whatever.
Don Foley,
Lawrence Ave.,
Maynooth,
Co. Kildare.
© The Irish Examiner, 29th. November 2007.
