Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 9 Jun 1992

Vol. 420 No. 9

Written Answers. - Environmental Tax Yields.

John Bruton

Question:

69 Mr. J. Bruton and Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the approximate annual yield in Ireland of the following environmental taxes equivalent to those currently levied in Sweden, (a) 6p per kilogram of nitrogen fertiliser, (b) 12p per kilogram of phosphatic fertiliser, (c) 80p per kilogram of pesticides, (d) 1-2p per kilogram of disposable packaging, (e) 2p per kilogram of alkali and mercury in batteries, (f) 4p per kilogram of lead in batteries, (g) 3p per kilogram of the sulphur content of oil, coal and peat, (h) 4p per kilogram of nitrogen oxides used in heat generation plants and (i) 6p per kilogram of carbon dioxide in petrol.

Minister for Finance (Mr. B. Ahern)

The scope for introducing new taxes on products has been severely curtailed by EC Single Market considerations. Only tobacco, mineral oil and alcohol products will be covered by the harmonised system agreed for excise duties which is to apply from 1 January next. Special taxes on other products could be introduced so long as they did not rely on border controls for enforcement purposes.

However, any unilateral moves by Ireland to impose taxes of the nature specified in the question would have grave competitiveness implications for Irish industry, particularly farming, and would inevitably lead to perfectly legal sourcing of such products outside the State on a widespread basis to the detriment of Irish suppliers. Given these and other practical considerations, I could only contemplate the introduction of such taxes in a Community-wide context.

Against that background and, given difficulties involved in producing meaningful estimates of the revenues that might arise from such taxes, it is my view that the production of any such estimates could only be done at inordinate cost. However, in an effort to be helpful to the Deputies, I am including details of the current annual consumption of the products mentioned in so far as statistics are readily available.

Estimated Annual Consumption

Fertilisers
Nitrogen	370,121 Tonnes of nutrient*
Phosphorus	62,641 Tonnes of nutrient*
Potassium	152,640 Tonnes of nutrient*
Plant Protection Pesticides	2,000 Tonnes
Fuels (incl. electricity generation)
Peat	5,698,000 Tonnes
Oil	4,621,000 Tonnes
Coal	3,172,000 Tonnes

*Tonnes of nutrient refers to the actual amount of the specified ingredient which is contained in fertilisers which are ready for use. Such fertilisers may also contain non-active ingredients such as limestone.