Madam, – Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan commenting on the ESRI report, Policy Options to Reduce Ireland's Greenhouse Gas Emissions, says that any carbon tax should be a tax on pollution, not a tax on employment (Home News, July 30th).
If a blanket carbon tax is placed on diesel fuel, how does he plan to protect jobs in the coach and bus industry? The publicly-owned bus companies will, no doubt, offset any new tax against Government subvention, but the private bus companies, operating more than twice the number of vehicles operated by the CIÉ companies, will be hit hard, and many may have to close.
The new taxes should be designed to reduce Ireland’s use of carbon by making the cost of running a car more expensive, while having no effect on the cost of running a coach or bus. However, a myriad of factors make it difficult to charge one price for diesel to a car owner, and another to a bus owner.
The ESRI report didn’t seem to tackle this issue, so let’s hope the Minister has a plan before the next budget. After all, he wants to introduce “a range of initiatives to help green jobs”. Driving a bus is a green job. – Yours, etc,