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Tax Rebates

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2012

Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Questions (128, 148, 157, 162, 172, 173, 189, 195, 196)

Mattie McGrath

Question:

128. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if the proposed fuel rebate scheme for road hauliers will apply to agricultural contractors; if he will consider a proposal to extend the scheme to agricultural contractors; if his attention has been drawn to an assessment that was carried out on the benefits of such scheme and if this assessment included the agricultural sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56344/12]

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Mattie McGrath

Question:

148. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the reasons a fuel rebate scheme for road hauliers cannot be introduced on 1 January 2013; if he is concerned that jobs and businesses may be lost in the sector due to the late introduction of the scheme; if he has considered introducing legislation to bring this into operation on 1 January 2013; the reasons he did not include the agricultural industry and farm contractors under the scheme; if he will consider including such contractors under the scheme as they too are heavily dependent on the price of fuel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56342/12]

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Eoghan Murphy

Question:

157. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 174 of 15 May 2012, if he will be granting a fuel rebate to bus and coach companies. [56493/12]

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Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

162. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Finance if the new proposed diesel rebate scheme will apply to the marine transport sector and the bus and coach sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56614/12]

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Derek Nolan

Question:

172. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider extending the proposed diesel rebate scheme to other transportation sectors, such as the marine transportation sector, in order to help businesses create sustainable transportation options; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56831/12]

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Michael McCarthy

Question:

173. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for Finance the qualification criteria for hauliers who wish to avail of the fuel rebate introduced in Budget 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56833/12]

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Seán Kyne

Question:

189. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Finance if consideration will be given to extending the diesel rebate for hauliers, as announced in Budget 2013, to the marine transportation sector in recognition of the boost such a measure would have on the expansion of the industry and the economic benefits which will accrue to local, in particular rural, areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56921/12]

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Colm Keaveney

Question:

195. Deputy Colm Keaveney asked the Minister for Finance in view of his various replies to both written and oral parliamentary questions regarding the granting of an essential users excise rebate to road hauliers, where he stated I should point out that a fuel rebate system, as sought by the IRHA, could not under EU law be restricted to Irish licensed hauliers but would have to be extended to all vehicles intended exclusively for the carriage of goods by road with a maximum permissible gross laden weight of not less than 7.5 tonnes, in addition, the rebate would have to include the carriage of passengers by a motor vehicle of category M2 or category M3 as defined in Council Directive 70/156/EEC, the reason he confined the granting of the rebate to licensed road hauliers in Budget 2013 and excluded passenger transport operators from the scheme in view of his statements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56996/12]

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Colm Keaveney

Question:

196. Deputy Colm Keaveney asked the Minister for Finance if he has sought permission from the EU Commission to introduce an essential users rebate for road haulage operators; the case he has put forward to have haulage operators classed as essential users while excluding passenger transport operators from this classification; if the Commission has not already been notified, if he will consider seeking permission to have passenger transport operators included in the scheme in view of the fact that in addition to excise duty, passenger transport is subject to 23% VAT on fuel which is non refundable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56997/12]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 128, 148, 157, 162, 172, 173, 189, 195 and 196 together.

The proposal to introduce an auto-diesel excise duty relief for licensed road hauliers that I announced in the Budget is confined to licensed and tax compliant hauliers.

However, I have received a number of submissions from, and on behalf of, private coach operators seeking to have this relief extended to them. I will consider this proposal in the context of the Finance Bill. It is worth noting that one of key arguments for introducing a rebate for the haulage industry is the fact that a large quantity of fuel purchased by this industry is purchased abroad thus generating no tax revenue for the State. A rebate should encourage hauliers to start purchasing their fuel in Ireland thus leading the measure to be more revenue neutral. Such an argument does not exist for the coach industry.

With regard to agriculture contractors, I assume the Deputy is referring to agricultural contractors using machinery designed for agricultural work. Contractors using such machinery in the course of farming work are entitled to use marked gas oil, which is taxed at a much lower rate than auto diesel.

The fuel rebate scheme proposed is governed by the terms of Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 which limits its application to auto diesel used in defined categories of road vehicles. I will be informing the European Commission of the rebate measure once it is introduced.

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