by Brian Byrne. Noel Daly, Managing Director of O’Mara Motors Limerick, has been elected President of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry for the coming year.
Speaking at the recent SIMI AGM today he highlighted the crippling taxation burden which the Irish motorist continually bears.
“Ireland has one of the highest motor taxation regimes in Europe," he said, "garnering a huge return for the Government. Yet motorists here suffer one of worst transport infrastructure systems in Europe."
Acknowledging the progress made by the Minister for Transport in recent times with the timeliness of new road projects, he said it is important also to be conscious of how poorly our road network compares with that of other EU member states.
"The Irish motorist contributes almost €4.8billion annually to the exchequer in motor related taxation and yet investment in road infrastructure is a fraction of this.
“Irish motorists are paying substantially more for their vehicles than their European counterparts. While motorists in those countries with low level motor taxation enjoy a reliable, efficient and logical transport infrastructure, motorists here are often left feeling exasperated by the problems caused by our poor transport infrastructure. It’s now time for the Government to give motorists value for their money”
