I assume the Deputy is referring to excise duty on diesel. Diesel is liable to mineral oil tax, MOT, at a rate of €368.05 per 1,000 litres when used for combustion in the engine of a motor vehicle and at a rate of €31.74 per 1,000 litres in other cases.
For MOT purposes, under section 94(1) of the Finance Act 1999 the term "motor vehicle" excludes agricultural tractors, road rollers, off-road dumpers, mobile cranes, mobile well-drilling equipment and mobile concrete pumping equipment which accordingly benefit from the lower rate. All of these exclusions cover vehicles whose primary purpose is not transportation of persons or goods on roads but which are used mainly on construction sites. In addition, the fuel is used not only for propulsion but to power specialised equipment such as cranes, drills and pumps on the vehicles.
EU law — Council Directive 2003/96/EC — on the taxation of energy products requires in principle a uniform rate of excise duty on auto-diesel. However, member states are allowed to apply rate differentiation, subject to minimum rates, to various stated categories of product or use including — Article 8 — "plant and machinery used in construction, civil engineering and public works" and "vehicles intended for use off the public roadway or which have not been granted authorisation for use mainly on the public roadway". A number of other Member States avail of this provision.
As regards vehicle registration tax, special purpose vehicles which are defined in section 135A of Finance Act 1992 as vehicles "designed, constructed or adapted solely or mainly for a purpose other than the carriage of persons or goods", are exempt. However, if the vehicle is to be used on roads, travelling from site to site by means of its own mechanical propulsion, there is a requirement to register the vehicle. The VRT category in this instance would be €50 — category C vehicle.