Super cars, SUVs and registration tax

The Finance Minister has said that the new car registration tax will "shift" the current (unfair) tax regime to a new, greener "polluter pays" system. He also said he'd prefer if things remained as they are, throwing doubts about the extent to which he cares for the environment.

A lot of people think that those ugly hybrids, with narrow tyres and box-like designs, are going to save the planet. Others recommend using cars which lack creature comforts and, therefore, waste less fuel, so as to harm the planet a little less.

Being a car enthusiast from an early age, neither common family cars nor boxish hybrids have ever seemed to appeal to me. I have always preferred something well kept with a nippy engine, which I could take out for a spin on a Sunday morning. Alas, those saviours of the environment are trying to condemn me and others like me for destroying the environment.

So we are contributing to a little more damage than we're supposed to, but now that we are going to get the polluter-pays policy, what will happen? Compare my nippy car with the gas guzzling SUV belonging to a businessman's wife. Both are polluters. But wait, how often do you see super cars or 200-horsepower coupés in the morning rush? Rarely or not at all. How many mothers, safely driving their children to their private school in their huge SUV, do you see? Lots!

Will the minister, therefore, please explain whether we will continue to face the same form of discrimination as we do today? If I were to import a two-litre car, which would cost me say €2,650, I'd have to pay a minimum of €9,783 and an added 18 per cent Vat on this amount, even if I managed to persuade the owner to give me the car for free.

I hope the minister notices that there are lots of car enthusiasts out there, who are being deprived of their dreams.

It is true that our cars are a little less green than modern city cars, but they are hardly used, only when the weather is right, and unlike normal everyday cars, being our own pride and joy, we make sure they are highly maintained.

So if the polluter pays principle is introduced, I sincerely hope that it is precisely that - the real polluter pays and it won't be another case of the government conveniently drawing a line when there is a way of increasing revenue.