Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2016
190. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if the European Union Commission has ever attempted to or actually imposed fines on Ireland because of the State's vehicle registration tax system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20625/16]
View answerFrom time to time the EU Commission raises queries around various tax provisions in Irish legislation, including Vehicle Registration Tax. This is usually done by means of an EU pilot which is a scheme designed to resolve compliance problems without having to resort to infringement proceedings. The pilot can be driven by the need for the Commission to gather information on its own initiative or in response to a complaint - about whether EU law is being correctly applied or whether national law is consistent with EU law. Using this system the Commission sends a query to the national government concerned, which has 10 weeks to reply. The Commission then has 10 weeks to assess the response and, if it is unsatisfactory, the Commission may start infringement proceedings. Otherwise the pilot is closed. The final goal of the system is to allow Member States to remedy potential EU law infringements by complying voluntarily with EU Law.
Accordingly, from time to time, we get such interventions from Europe. For the most part the Commission is satisfied with the response and that is the end of the matter. Other times if the Commission is not satisfied it can lead to infringement proceedings being instigated. In general, even where there is an adverse finding, the member State is allowed a period of time to address the issue through its own legislation. On this basis, the issue of fines rarely if ever arise. No fines have been imposed on the State in relation to VRT nor has any attempt been made in that regard.
