I will not rule in or out the potential fiscal measures needed to reduce congestion in the Greater Dublin Area. Although I expressed an opinion that congestion charges might ultimately be needed to help free up road space for alternative transport, I am not considering or proposing any specific measures at this point in time.
The Government's approach to this issue is set out in Action 11 of the new smarter travel policy framework which I launched recently. It states that fiscal measures would be needed to act as a disincentive to unnecessary car travel.
In relation to emissions, the Government has already introduced fiscal measures by ensuring that the VRT and Motor Tax systems, from July 2008, are entirely based on CO2 emissions with rates considerably varying between models on the basis of their emissions. Some reductions in CO2 emissions are likely to emerge even in the short term from this change.
I believe that further research on the optimal measures needed will be warranted after we see the recommendations of the Commission on Taxation Report due later this year.
