Vol. 512 No. 6
179 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider reducing the vehicle registration tax on wheelchair accessible vehicles in the forthcoming Finance Bill as part of the movement to expand small vehicle public transport. [26582/99]
I looked at this issue in the context of the 1999 Finance Bill and again in the context of the current budget, but decided not to take action. There is no evidence of lack of interest in taxi licences in Dublin where wheelchair accessibility has been a requirement for new licence holders and applications greatly exceed the number available. In addition, there is a substantive problem in that any VRT concession for taxis and hackneys would itself be costly and could lead to further revenue losses with private cars, as vehicles could be passed through the taxi/hackney fleet to avail of any tax concession. VRT is paid on initial registration and does not require the retention of a vehicle for any time period.
