A simple solution to a not so simple problem.

John Gormley, leader of the Green party and recently appointed minister to the environment. He hasn’t really had much to say since the election, until now. Clearly Mr. Gormley has done a lot of research into engine emissions and knows a lot about how engines work. I say this because he has plans for an up to ten per cent tax increase on vehicles carrying a 1.6 litre engine or higher. What a genius!! Actually this plan isn’t entirely without merit it’s just terribly misguided.

I say this for two reasons, the first being that higher tax on larger engines, in theory does make a kind of sense. The second reason being that higher tax on larger engines is a simplistic, and lazy attempt at reducing emissions. For a start, cars across the board, it doesn’t matter what the brand is tend to be rather efficient in a 1.6 litre engine once they’re maintained. It is a far better engine, with respect to the mile to the gallon then a 1.8, which is obvious, but whats not so obvious and a little surprising is that the 1.6 tends to be much more echo friendly then a 1.4, an engine which is not being chastised purely for its capacity.

So here is my proposed solution for the clearly well informed minister, instead of slapping a tax increase based on engine capacity, go out and find out what the efficient engines are, and what the inefficient ones are. Take the facts from the specific manufacturers and discriminate against the heavy offenders, so for example if an Opel 1.3 has higher emissions then say a Ford in a 1.6, surely the Opel deserves to be in a higher tax bracket. To be fair this does sound like far too much work to go into a government policy, it wouldn’t be fair to ask for legislation that can’t be written, read and re-read inside someones lunch hour (it’s not like government officials are over-paid or don’t deserve an increase or anything).

If the government wants a simple solution then they don’t have to look very far to get it. Motor tax in France is far more efficient then the system we employ here, and oh yes its much more democratic. Those crafty French, they don’t actually pay the tax on their cars, they pay it on the petrol! So if a persons car is very economic then they don’t get stung with a heavy tax burden, however if they drive a big gas guzzling SUV, then they have the luxury of paying through the nose in tax just to ensure that they can run it. Why then could we not adopt such a policy in Ireland? Because it would be too efficient and make too much sense thats why! Seriously though, does the notion of pay as you go driving not seem appealing to anybody? It would make so much more sense then blanket tax increases on specific motor classes. So to the minister, I implore you, wake up! Don’t make polices because they’re easy, make them because they serve the public, with this pay increases you’ve just received, the least you could do is earn it.