Brendan Griffin
Question:28. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Finance his views on a matter regarding carbon tax (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51989/13]
View answerWednesday, 4 December 2013
Questions (28)
Written answers
Solid fuel carbon tax will be charged on all solid fuels supplied in the State, regardless of whether the fuel products are Irish made or imported. Solid fuel is defined under section 77 of the Finance Act 2010, as amended and means coal or peat. Coal is further defined to include coal and lignite, solid fuel manufactured from coal and lignite, and any other energy product within the meaning of Article 2.1 of Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 in solid form. Peat means peat falling within CN Code 2703 of the Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities referred to in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2658/87 of 23 July 1987, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2031/2001 of 6 August 2001 and includes any solid fuel manufactured from peat.
I am advised by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government that the Air Pollution Act (Marketing, Sale, Distribution and Burning of Specified Fuels) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 326 of 2012), specifies the environmental standards for coal placed on the market and provides the regulatory framework in relation to the distribution and sale of coal in the State.
Under the Regulations, all coal bagging operators and certain solid fuel suppliers trading in bituminous coal must be registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Those who must register include all fuel wholesalers and distributors of bituminous coal but only those retailers for whom 50% or more of their total annual sales proceeds are from bituminous coal. However all retailers who trade in bituminous coal must ensure that their fuel wholesalers are registered with the EPA and must hold a record to this effect with their supplier's registration number. Furthermore, retailers who sell bituminous coal are required to hold a record setting out the registration number of the bagging operator who supplied the product. Retailers must also ensure that, where the unit of sale is a bag, then the bag must be sealed.
In particular, the Regulations also require that all bituminous coal sold outside smoky coal ban areas for residential use outside those areas must have a sulphur content of no more than 0.7% , which is lower than that in Northern Ireland and therefore bituminous coal supplied to Northern Ireland standards for sale on that market may not be sold in the State. Compliance with the Regulations will be enforced by the Local Authorities. A verification mechanism, SWiFT 7, has been developed by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) for the verification of sulphur content in coal. This provides for a robust mechanism to counter the sourcing of coal from Northern Ireland.
Suppliers who produce and supply solid fuels in contravention of these regulations are subject to investigation and prosecution by local authorities and other State Agencies charged with enforcing the regulations and preventing such supply.
The Revenue Commissioners, who are responsible for the collection of carbon tax on solid fuels, also advise me that on commencement of the carbon tax provisions under the Finance Act 2010, any Northern Ireland-based wholesaler of solid fuels selling into the market in Ireland will be obliged to register as a supplier and comply with the same regulatory requirements as wholesalers based in the State. Such suppliers will be obliged to make returns on solid fuels supplied in the State in the accounting period concerned and pay the amount of carbon tax due in respect of that supply.
Therefore it is not my intention to defer the second phase of the carbon tax which is due for implementation in May 2014.