Economy in crisis - No mandate for more road tolls

JUST as we seem to be coming to terms with our new and grim normality, and what we must do to survive it, the possibility of a whole raft of price increases for motorists loom. Once again, the goal posts are about to be moved.

Fuel costs, already at a record high, will increase in December when the carbon tax rate is increased from €15 per tonne to €25. This will push the Government-imposed costs on €10 worth of petrol well beyond the €7 mark. This is not so much taxation as something approaching the extortion of a market with no choice.

According to the AA, a typical motorist uses 150 litres of fuel a month based on doing 12,000 miles (19,300km) per year at 30 miles per gallon. That puts a monthly fuel bill at €225. In January 2009, when petrol cost 95 cent a litre, that figure was €142.50.

As well as that, a review of motor tax rates is under way as measures brought in January 2009 have cost the Exchequer €650m. Any change is certain to make motoring more expensive. Some of the impetus for these increases must come from the huge collapse in vehicle registration tax receipts. At the height of our madness VRT brought in over €1 billion in one year. Latest figures put the comparative figure at €380m.

There is also the prospect of a Government-imposed insurance levy to cover losses of about €650m incurred by the Quinn Insurance Group. This is because Anglo Irish Bank and American giant Liberty Mutual, who will buy the company, have refused to be shackled by the company’s debts. This levy — the rate is as yet undecided — will make all non-life insurance more expensive for everyone.

If all of that was not dispiriting enough the newfound enthusiasm for toll roads seems set to make the everyday, unavoidable task of getting from A to B even more expensive than it already is. Toll roads have become a feature of Irish life without any real public debate or political mandate. They became more prevalent during the years when throwing a euro or two into a basket at a barrier did not seem a great imposition and no one was particularly disturbed about it. Now the National Roads Authority has suggested that a whole swathe of tolls be imposed all around the country. This must happen, they say, to sustain and develop our roads network. This kind of ambition, funded by charging people for using roads they should have an expectation to use anyway, pushes the issue to the point that must be debated before tolling can be expanded.

It may be pointless to ask where all of the money collected under the guise of fuel taxes, VRT, road tax and VAT on vehicles goes but this, just as the parking charges faced by many workers, is another tax on everyday living that focuses on the same group of people time and time again.

Of course the Government needs all the money it can raise but this country seems to be just a tax rise or two away from another, far less pleasant, Rubicon. Before even one increase is imposed Minister Brendan Howlin must make his presence felt and ensure that all public spending is as effective as it can be, as further tax increases will threaten the stability, and what is left of our sense of common purpose, of this society.