Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 12 May 1936

Vol. 62 No. 1

Financial Resolutions. - Resolution No. 13—Excise.

Mr. MacEntee

I move:—

(1) That the Third Schedule to the Finance Act, 1926 (No. 35 of 1926), shall be amended as on and from the 13th day of May, 1936, as follows, and Section 20 of that Act and the said Third Schedule shall have effect accordingly, that is to say:—

(a) the following proviso shall be inserted in paragraph 5 of the said Third Schedule at the end of that paragraph, that is to say:—"In the case of a vehicle to which this paragraph applies and which is not electrically propelled and which exceeds one ton but does not exceed one and one-quarter tons in weight unladen and in respect of which it is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister for Industry and Commerce that such vehicle was assembled in Saorstát Eireann in a manner and to an extent for the time being approved of by the said Minister and was so assembled, either wholly or to an extent for the time being approved of by the said Minister, from parts manufactured in Saorstát Eireann duty shall be charged, levied, and paid in respect of such vehicle at the rate of £20 in lieu of the above-mentioned rate of £30";

(b) the following proviso shall be inserted in paragraph 6 of the said Third Schedule at the end of that paragraph, that is to say:—"In the case of any vehicle to which sub-paragraph (c) of this paragraph applies and which is not electrically propelled, and which exceeds 16 horse-power, and in respect of which it is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister for Industry and Commerce that such vehicle was assembled in Saorstát Eireann in a manner and to an extent for the time being approved of by the said Minister and was so assembled, either wholly or to an extent for the time being approved of by the said Minister, from parts manufactured in Saorstát Eireann, no duty shall be charged or levied in respect of the excess of the horse-power of such vehicle above 16 horse-power".

(2) That paragraphs (b) and (f) of Section 7 of the Finance (Customs and Excise Duties) Act, 1933 (No. 52 of 1933), shall be repealed as on and from the 13th day of May, 1936, but without prejudice to the validity or effect of any certificate given by the Minister for Industry and Commerce for the purposes of either of those paragraphs before that date.

(3) It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927 (No. 7 of 1927).

This Resolution is introduced at the instance of the Minister for Industry and Commerce. It will be remembered that the Finance Act of 1933 provided for the payment of road tax at the rate of £20 in the case of commercial vehicles exceeding 1 ton, but not exceeding 1¼ tons. Section 7 provided for the payment of road tax at the maximum rate of £16 in the case of private motor vehicles in respect of which it was shown to the satisfaction of the Minister for Industry and Commerce that such vehicles were assembled in Saorstát Eireann in a manner and to the extent for the time being approved by the said Minister. The Minister for Industry and Commerce has now suggested that this concession should in future be limited to vehicles not only assembled in the manner and to the extent required by the Minister in Saorstát Eireann, but that are also in the manner and to the extent required by the Minister assembled from parts manufactured in the Saorstát. This Resolution is accordingly designed to achieve that object.

General Mulcahy

Will the Minister say what, particularly, paragraph (1) (b) is intended to effect?

Mr. Lemass

That section of the Resolution effects exactly the same change in respect to the ordinary private car as (a) effects in relation to commercial vehicles. This road tax concession was given in the case of the commercial vehicle particularly in order to sustain the body-making industry. The bodies of commercial vehicles were being made by coach-builders, but recently certain firms have been putting all-steel bodies on the market for commercial cars, with the result that the very device which was designed to protect the coach-builders and give them whatever trade in commercial bodies was available, was being used for the purpose of taking away the trade and having these all-steel bodies substituted. The effect of the change is to give power to require that cars, in order to get the road tax concession, shall not merely be assembled here, but must also be assembled from parts manufactured in the Saorstát to whatever extent may be approved from time to time. As the law stands, if the car is assembled in the manner and to the degree approved, the road tax concession must be conceded whether the parts are manufactured here or not. Apart from the position of the commercial vehicles, the manufacture of parts for the bodies of private cars is being proceeded with, and it is desirable that the very special concession given, the reduction of the horse-power tax, should be confined to cars which use Saorstát manufactured parts to whatever extent may be required.

Mr. Belton

Will the concession not be retained for cars built here but not necessarily assembled from parts made here?

Mr. Lemass

In so far as private cars are concerned, it is unlikely there will be any substantial change for some time to come; but in so far as commercial vehicles are concerned, it is probable a change in the regulation will be made fairly soon, to ensure that parts manufactured in the country will be used. As I have indicated, the bodies of commercial vehicles were being made by coach-builders until, quite recently, the all-steel commercial vehicle body was put on the market.

Mr. Belton

Will there be no concession given to a commercial car assembled here of imported parts?

Mr. Lemass

No.

Mr. Belton

Do you not think some graded concessions ought to be given, such as no concession for the completely imported article, some concession for the article assembled here, and still greater concessions for the article assembled here of parts made here?

Mr. Lemass

It works out that way. The completely manufactured vehicle cannot be imported. All the commercial vehicles are produced here, either assembled or manufactured here, both in respect of chassis and body. There is no importation of complete commercial vehicles at all.

Mr. Belton

Are you sure of that?

Mr. Lemass

I am quite sure of that, except in a very odd case, because the duty is very high—prohibitive. You will have two classes—cars assembled from imported parts and cars assembled from parts manufactured here.

Mr. MacDermot

Does the Minister attach any importance to the greater safety value of all-steel bodies?

Mr. Lemass

In relation to the commercial vehicle, the general opinion is that the coach-built body is the better body, only it may weigh heavier than the all-steel body. The advantage of the all-steel body is that it is lighter in weight, and consequently enables a larger car to be rated at a lower tax.

Mr. MacDermot

But is it not safer?

Mr. Lemass

I would not think so.

Resolution No. 13 agreed to.