Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 28 Oct 1970

Vol. 249 No. 1

Financial Resolutions. - Financial Resolution, No. 2: Excise.

Mr. Colley

I move:

(1) That the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952 (No. 24 of 1952), shall, as on and from the 1st day of November, 1970, be amended by the substitution in paragraph 1 of Part I of the Schedule thereto of "£1 10s", "£3", "£4 10s", "£7", "£9 10s", "£2 10s", "£12 10s", "£9 10s" and "£3" as the rates of duty in lieu of "£1 5s", "£2 10s", "£3 15s", "£5 12s 6d", "£7 10s", "£1 17s 6d", "£10", "£7 10s", and "£2 10s" respectively.

(2) That, subject to paragraph (3) of this Resolution, the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952, shall, as on and from the 1st day of November, 1970, be amended by the substitution in Part I of the Schedule thereto of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (d) of paragraph 6:

"(d) other vehicles to which this paragraph applies—

	£
not exceeding 8 horse-power or electrically propelled	20
exceeding 8 horse-power but not exceeding 9 horse-power	23
exceeding 9 horse-power but not exceeding 10 horse-power	26
exceeding 10 horse-power	26
	plus £4 for each unit or part of a unit of horse-power in excess of 10 horse-power, subject to a maximum of £50 for the total duty.”

(3) That paragraph (2) of this Resolution shall not have effect in relation to any vehicle—

(a) which is used as a small public service vehicle within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (No. 24 of 1961), and for no other purpose,

(b) which is fitted with a taxi-meter and is lawfully used as a street service vehicle within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, or for purposes incidental to such user and for no other purpose, or

(c) which is used as a hearse and for no other purpose.

(4) It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927 (No. 7 of 1927).

Mr. Cooney

Does paragraph (3) apply to large public service vehicles?

Mr. Colley

No.

Mr. Cooney

They are exempt from the increase?

Mr. Colley

They are exempted.

Mr. Cosgrave

What about mini-buses for carrying school children?

Mr. Colley

Mini-buses are subject to this.

Mr. Cosgrave

Are they caught?

Mr. Colley

They are. They are subject to this.

Mr. Cosgrave

Can the Minister say if there is any exemption for mini-buses for the carriage of invalid children or children who are incapacitated and are carried to school by these buses?

Mr. Colley

No mini-buses are exempted.

Mr. O'Higgins

No mini-buses are what?

Mr. Colley

Exempted.

Mr. Cosgrave

In other words, mini-buses used by rehabilitation or other invalid organisations are caught by this?

Mr. Colley

If they are mini-buses in that sense, yes.

Mr. Tully

Surely public service vehicles are exempted?

Mr. Colley

I think the ones the Deputy is talking about would come within that category. Paragraph (3) exempts small public service vehicles. I cannot say precisely whether the ones the Deputy has in mind come within that definition.

Mr. O'Higgins

It would be very serious if the Minister were taxing the mode of conveyance of invalid children. If the tax does fall on this, I take it that the Minister will review it in the subsequent legislation.

Mr. Colley

It will be looked at certainly before the enactment of the Bill.

Mr. Clinton

I wanted to ask whether ambulances are included.

Mr. Colley

Whether they are subject to this?

Mr. Clinton

Whether they are subject to it or not?

Mr. Colley

No, they are not.

Dr. Byrne

Could the Minister clarify whether the mini-buses used by the rehabilitation unit in Clontarf, Lady Goulding's organisation, will be subject to an increase in taxation under this?

Mr. Colley

It depends on whether they are essentially for public use or for private use.

Dr. Byrne

They are used to bring patients there who need rehabilitation which is not provided elsewhere.

Mr. Colley

If the Deputy can see a clear distinction, I cannot. I would not be in a position to say in regard to any particular vehicle which a Deputy——

Dr. Byrne

This is an example of the type of vehicle which was referred to earlier.

Mr. Colley

I can only tell the Deputy that the general principle on which it is based is that vehicles which are essentially for public use are exempted from this. On specific instances the position would have to be examined in relation to each one to see whether or not it came within it, or whether it was a borderline case.

Dr. Byrne

Will there be provision for borderline cases to apply for exemption?

Mr. Colley

As I have indicated, if there are such cases they can be looked at between this and the enactment of the legislation.

Mr. Coogan

Will Ministers' cars be involved?

Dr. Byrne

Is the Minister aware that many of the larger vehicles in the city are used as taxis and that he is increasing the costs of the taxi business?

Mr. Colley

No, taxis are exempt.

Question put.

The Committee divided: Tá, 75; Níl, 67.

Tá

• Aiken, Frank.
• Allen, Lorcan.
• Andrews, David.
• Barrett, Sylvester.
• Blaney, Neil.
• Boland, Kevin.
• Boylan, Terence.
• Brady, Philip A.
• Brennan, Joseph.
• Brennan, Paudge.
• Briscoe, Ben.
• Brosnan, Seán.
• Browne, Patrick.
• Browne, Seán.
• Burke, Patrick J.
• Carter, Frank.
• Carty, Michael.
• Childers, Erskine.
• Colley, George.
• Gibbons, James.
• Gogan, Richard P.
• Haughey, Charles.
• Healy, Augustine A.
• Herbert, Michael.
• Hillery, Patrick J.
• Hilliard, Michael.
• Hussey, Thomas.
• Kenneally, William.
• Kitt, Michael F.
• Lalor, Patrick J.
• Lemass, Noel T.
• Lenehan, Joseph.
• Lenihan, Brian.
• Loughnane, William A.
• Lynch, Celia.
• Lynch, John.
• McEllistrim, Thomas.
• MacSharry, Ray.
• Collins, Gerard.
• Connolly, Gerard C.
• Cowen, Bernard.
• Cronin, Jerry.
• Crowley, Flor.
• Cunningham, Liam.
• Davern, Noel.
• de Valera, Vivion.
• Dowling, Joe.
• Fahey, Jackie.
• Faulkner, Pádraig.
• Fitzpatrick Tom (Dublin Central).
• Flanagan, Seán.
• Foley, Desmond.
• Forde, Paddy.
• French, Seán.
• Gallagher, James.
• Geoghegan, John.
• Gibbons, Hugh.
• Meaney, Thomas.
• Molloy, Robert.
• Moore, Seán.
• Moran, Michael.
• Nolan, Thomas.
• Noonan, Michael.
• O'Connor, Timothy.
• O'Kennedy, Michael.
• O'Leary, John.
• O'Malley, Des.
• Power, Patrick.
• Sheridan, Joseph.
• Sherwin, Seán.
• Smith, Michael.
• Smith, Patrick.
• Timmons, Eugene.
• Tunney, Jim.
• Wyse, Pearse.

Níl

• Barry, Peter.
• Barry, Richard.
• Begley, Michael.
• Belton, Luke.
• Belton, Paddy.
• Browne, Noël.
• Bruton, John.
• Burke, Joan.
• Burke, Liam.
• Burke, Richard.
• Burton, Philip.
• Byrne, Hugh.
• Clinton, Mark A.
• Cluskey, Frank.
• Collins, Edward.
• Conlan, John F.
• Coogan, Fintan.
• Cooney, Patrick M.
• Corish, Brendan.
• Cosgrave, Liam.
• Cott, Gerard.
• Coughlan, Stephen.
• Creed, Donal.
• Crotty, Kieran.
• Cruise-O'Brien, Conor.
• Desmond, Barry.
• Dockrell, Henry P.
• Dockrell, Maurice E.
• Donegan, Patrick S.
• Donnellan, John.
• Dunne, Thomas.
• Enright, Thomas W.
• Esmonde, Sir Anthony C.
• Finn, Martin.
• FitzGerald, Garret.
• Fitzpatrick, Tom. (Cavan).
• Flanagan, Oliver J.
• Fox, Billy.
• Governey, Desmond.
• Harte, Patrick D.
• Hogan, Patrick.
• Hogan O'Higgins, Brigid.
• Jones, Denis F.
• Kavanagh, Liam.
• Keating, Justin.
• Kenny, Henry.
• L'Estrange, Gerald.
• Lynch, Gerard.
• McLaughlin, Joseph.
• Malone, Patrick.
• Murphy, Michael P.
• O'Connell, John F.
• O'Donnell, Tom.
• O'Donovan, John.
• O'Hara, Thomas.
• O'Higgins, Thomas F.
• O'Leary, Michael.
• O'Reilly, Paddy.
• O'Sullivan, John L.
• Pattison, Séamus.
• Ryan, Richie.
• Spring, Dan.
• Taylor, Francis.
• Thornley, David.
• Timmins, Godfrey.
• Treacy, Seán.
• Tully, James.

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Andrews and Meaney; Níl, Deputies R. Burke and Cluskey.

Question declared carried.