Old reliables escape increases

Old reliables such as the price of a pint, petrol and diesel, motor tax, and VRT have been left untouched.

While smokers face the prospect of paying €10 for a packet of cigarettes today, Michael Noonan confirmed that cash-strapped consumers looking forward to a pint or a short at the weekend will face no such price hike.

“I am not raising taxes on alcohol. I am not raising taxes on petrol or diesel. I am not raising motor tax. I am not raising the Vehicle Registration Tax. I am not raising any other taxes because I am able to fund the costs of these reforms and incentives through improved tax revenues arising from economic growth and continued expenditure restraint,” he said.

The decision to not increase excise on alcohol further was welcomed by both the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) and the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA).

However, chief executive of the LVA, Donall O’Keeffe cautioned that Ireland still had one of the highest excise rates in Europe.

“While excise rates were not increased this time round the fact remains this country still has one of the highest excise rates on alcohol in Europe.

“Excise is a tax on hard pressed consumers, damages our competitiveness from a tourist perspective and ultimately costs jobs,” he said.

The VFI also said that the decision was a “missed opportunity” and that excise remained “a tax on employment, a tax on consumers and a tax on tourism”.

Chairperson of the National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA) Evelyn Jones said the decision to not raise excise on alcohol would offer some release to independent off-licences.

Spokesperson for the Irish Petrol Retailers Association said his members were “delighted” there would be no increases in excise rates for petrol or diesel.

“We are delighted with the news that excise levels are to remain at current levels and this coupled with the current reducing trend in pump prices is good news for both consumers and retailers alike,” he said.

Director general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) Alan Nolan said the decision to not increase VRT and motor tax was a strong message that the country had moved out of the austerity period.

“The budget measures announced today mean that we can be confident about the year ahead. The increase in consumer spending power, resulting from today’s budgetary measures, will help to increase business activity, creating thousands of extra jobs in our sector, and will boost Exchequer tax revenues in 2015,” he said.