AUTHORITIES IN the Republic, Northern Ireland and Britain are working on a new diesel fuel marker which is aimed at closing down the €150 million-a-year illegal fuel industry.
News of the joint scheme was contained in a report on the haulage industry launched by the Oireachtas Committee on Transport yesterday.
The report also called for greater penalties for retailers in the Republic who are caught selling laundered diesel.
Laudering “green” or rebated diesel involves removing the marker dye in the oil and selling it as taxed diesel. The process creates a sludge which is toxic to the environment and the final fuel can be very harmful to an engine.
The committee also recommended the Government consider an “essential users rebate” on tax paid on diesel for the haulage industry. In making this recommendation the committee was mindful of the increasing costs on the industry through fuel price rises, which also create a windfall taxation benefit for the exchequer.
The report noted that five EU states, Spain, France, Belgium, Hungary and Slovenia, have lower tax rates for commercial diesel. In these countries, the rebate applies to lorries over 7.5 tonnes.
A change to the road tax system to a pay-as-you-go system using digital tachographs would also assist hauliers, the report said, as they have to pay road tax for their vehicles in advance, regardless of whether they have work for the vehicles.
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