Comprehensive car bloat measures must be included in Budget 2024
Labour climate spokesperson Rebecca Moynihan has urged Government to introduce bloated car restriction on SUVs and other energy intensive cars in the forthcoming Budget.
Senator Moynihan said:
“It’s a no brainer. It’s time to tackle the car bloat in our towns and cities. The environmental evidence for introducing such measures is clear. Data from The World Energy Outlook of 2021 and the Global Fuel Economy Initiative 2021 shows that if SUVs were an individual country, that country would rank sixth among the world’s highest carbon emissions. We need to tackle the growing SUV problem here in Ireland.
“Like the measure introduced in France, tackling the growth car bloat needs to be done for both road safety and carbon emissions. Four out of the top five cars sold in Ireland last year were SUVs. It’s a worrying trend and we need to tackle it now.
“The option of doing nothing and allowing transport emissions – which is caused by both producing and using these heavier cars – to skyrocket is simply not acceptable.
“According to Eurostat, Ireland had the largest increase in emissions in the EU last year, one of just four countries to increase emissions annually. Fundamental change is needed to achieve our emissions reduction targets, allowing this car bloat to continue unchecked is simply not an option”