90% of cars taxed in 2011 in lowest emission bands

Transport:More than 90 per cent of all new private cars taxed last year were in the two lowest emission bands for CO2 – the same tax bracket expected to be hit in next week's budget.

According to the CSO’s Transport Omnibus for 2011, which was released yesterday, motorists have made a dramatic switch to less polluting modern engines in the last five years.

The CSO took the unusual step of noting the change in last year’s position compared to 2006, when almost three-quarters of new cars were fuelled by petrol. Last year the position had reversed with nearly three-quarters of new cars powered by low-emitting diesel engines, many of which pay tax at the lowest rate.

While the policy introduced by former minister for the environment John Gormley in 2008 appears to have been successful in combating CO2 pollution, indications are the Government will seek a higher rate of road tax from the owners of such large vehicles.

Motor tax revenue fell to €988 million last year, a drop of €72 million from the peak in 2008. However, the number of licensed vehicles – those which have paid road tax – rose by 8,769 to 2,425,156 in 2011.

Yesterday’s Transport Omnibus also revealed 128,000 driving tests were taken in 2011, with a pass rate of 51 per cent. Compared to 2010, the number of tests increased by almost 10 per cent.

On the State’s airports, it said almost 24 million trips were made through Irish airports in 2011. More than three-quarters of these passed through Dublin Airport.

The full CSO report is available from cso.ie