IF YOU always fancied the idea of having a registration number that suited either your car or your lifestyle, then the cost to get your desired number has increased almost threefold since October 7th.
Up until October 7th, any individual, on application to the Central Vehicle Office, Rosslare, could reserve a registration that has not yet been issued and it would cost €315, but since that date it will now cost €1,000.
"We used to get a lot of people wanting variations of 911," said Shiv Shankar, sales adviser with Porsche Centre Dublin on the Belgard Road. "This year there are fewer, as there are many fewer orders for new cars, but it is a simple lottery system, and if there are multiple applications for a particular number its just down to the luck of the draw. Customers are refunded their fee if they are unsuccessful."
Trevor Musgrave, from Des Cullen Cars, thinks the increase in price is unjustified. "It is an absolute disgrace that this increase has come about.
"Previously we ordered around 70 plates from Revenue but this year I am not submitting any. We would have ordered plates such as 599 and 430 (for Ferrari), 85 and 89 (for Aston Martin) and 63 and 65 (for Mercedes AMG) but now with this increase we are not willing to pay the extra fee because it doesnt add any increased value for the car. Also with the new system if we order the plate and sell the car on to the owner they become the second registered owner," he told The Irish Times.
According to figures from Revenue, the numbers who have applied for such registration numbers this year have dwindled compared to a peak last year. This year 1,548 reservations were made compared to 3,375 in 2007, 3,046 in 2006, 2,813 in 2005 and 2,306 in 2004.
Explaining the price increase, a spokesman from Revenue told The Irish Times that Instrument No 396 of the 2008 (Vehicle Registration and Taxation (Amendment) Regulations 2008 made provision for an increased fee of €1,000 to be charged for this facility for applications received on or after October 7th 2008, and that the fee for this facility had remained at €315 since January 1st, 1993.