Pensioner who can't afford a new car

The owners of small cars are being made to pay more for their road licence to make up for heavier vehicles which pollute more. The Finance Minister in his budget speech said he was raising the tax on vehicles to combat pollution but forgets that small cars undergo VRT tests for which we have to pay.

The culprits are none other than the buses, trucks and vans that have had their engines replaced with diesel ones, mostly scrap and throwaways. If the wardens and the police were to carry out their job properly I am sure they would reduce pollution. Some of these vehicles should be taken off the road.

I am the proud owner of a small car that passes its VRT tests regularly, proof enough that its emissions are within regulations. As someone on a pension which is barely enough to live on, I cannot afford to purchase a new car as suggested.

I fully support the complaints made by Monica Muscat and Steve Hadden in the letters column and request that the Minister for Finance re-consider the excessive circulation tax.