Revenue gets €1.3bn boost from car sales

THE Government raked in €1.3 billion in vehicle registration tax and VAT over the last six months as Irish car sales headed for a five-year high.

There were 137,000 new vehicles registered in the first six months of the year as the rush to buy new motors gave a massive boost to State coffers.

The motoring boom is not confined to cars. New vans are selling at record levels up 29% on the corresponding period for 2004. And new lorry sales have jumped by 24%.