I wish to ask the Taoiseach about a new taxation policy the Government has been working on, namely the area relating to benefit-in-kind tax. It has been raised with me recently that a significant and substantial burden has been placed on people who have company cars. Unfortunately, they are put to the pin of their collar because of the new taxes that have been imposed on them if they are driving particular types of vehicles, such as a 2 l standard family-sized SUV. The tax on such vehicles has increased by approximately €6,000 per year. This is a crippling amount of taxation to be placed on working families. It is an unforeseen consequence of some of the changes in the previous budget. Can the Government consider this in the forthcoming budget, as well as during the year, as it is having a detrimental impact on the self-employed who are on the road, paying their taxes and working hard? This tax is an unfair burden on people who happen to have diesel vehicles.

I thank the Deputy for the question. This measure was introduced in the Finance Act 2019, with a lead-in period to 1 January this year. The purpose of this lead-in period was to allow fleet planning by corporate organisations that were planning leases, which are typically over three years, to enable a transition to electric vehicles and others. This is a carbon-based measure that brings the benefit-in-kind taxation regime into line with other vehicle taxation regimes, such as motor tax and vehicle registration tax, which, of course, are carbon-based. The legislation aligns the three taxes across the board with a lead-in period. I appreciate the difficulty people are facing at the moment, but the lead-in period was put in place to enable corporates to plan for their employees. I strongly encourage employees to look towards electric vehicle grants that are available to further facilitate the transition.