Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

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10.6 Motor Tax and Driving Licences 10.6.1 The Group examined the approach to motor tax collection in Ireland to identify possible means of more cost-efficient and streamlined approaches to collection. This includes expanding the online system and incentivising the online payment of motor tax, as well as ending what the Group sees as anomalies within the system that increase the number of transactions that have to be processed. 10.6.2 County and city councils are charged with the collection of motor taxation. There are 29 motor tax authorities in Ireland and 23 associated sub-offices covering 52 outlets in total for the payment of motor tax. Dublin City Council collects motor tax on behalf of the four local authorities in Dublin. Galway County Council provides a shared service for Galway City Council, as does Cork County Council for Cork City Council. 10.6.3 Motor tax receipts amounted to €1,055 million in 2008 with €670 million collected at motor tax offices and €385 million collected online. The total budgeted cost for motor tax operations in 2010 by local authorities comes to €37.9 million. According to figures collected by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, in early 2010 the number of staff working in motor tax in local government was just under 650, accounting for some 2% of all local authority staff. 10.6.4 Motor tax authorities carry out a range of functions, including the collection of motor tax but also the issuing of vehicle licences and driving licences. Computer services via the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF) introduced nationally in 2004 provide a common platform for driver and vehicle licence processing. Responsibility for the NVDF was transferred from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to the Department of Transport in 2007. 10.6.5 In 2004 an online motor tax system was introduced. A new basis for taxation was introduced in 2008 based on carbon dioxide emissions replacing the former engine sized system. Cars registered from 1 July 2008 are taxed based on their CO2 emissions level while cars registered before that date continue to be taxed based on their engine size. Under the new system, lower taxes apply to vehicles with lower CO2 emissions. The principal taxation classes in 2009 are set out as follows: 138
Table 10.1 – Motor Taxation Classes, 2009 Taxation Class Number % Private Cars 1,902,429 77.09 Goods Vehicles 343,940 13.94 Agricultural & General Haulage Tractors 67,503 2.73 Motorcycles 39,552 1.60 Public Service Vehicles 36,840 1.49 Exempt Vehicles 26,954 1.09 Vintage Vehicles 22,891 0.93 Motor Caravans 10,294 0.42 Other 17,257 0.70 Total 2,467,660 100.00 Source: Department of Transport 10.6.6 Motor tax can be paid quarterly, half yearly or annually. Service indicator data show that in 2008 there were a total of 5.1 million motor tax transactions of which 2.7 million (53%) were dealt with over the counter, 0.80 million (16%) through the postal system, and 1.6 million processed online (just over 31%). It should be noted that the 3.5 million motor tax transactions for motor tax offices includes tax discs, arrears and other relevant transactions where payment was made, where as the online figure of 1.6 million transactions includes tax discs only and excludes arrears. Details for each county are given in Appendix 10. 10.6.7 The rates charged for each vehicle class are critically important. The introduction of the new CO2 emission based charging system has had the effect of diluting income as consumers have switched purchases significantly towards low emission cars which attract low rates of motor tax – around 84% of new car purchases are in the lower A, B and C bands. This is an area which requires continuous monitoring. The motor tax base income will continue to decline if charges are not adjusted annually to ensure the new charging regime has a neutral effect on revenue. This effect will be further compounded as electric cars are more widely introduced. 10.6.8 The uptake in online renewal has not reached its full potential. Most local authorities provide free Internet access in their libraries and in their county buildings. Renewal through the Internet is the most efficient method of delivery. From Appendix 10 it can be seen that only Dublin city and Kildare have more than 40% processed online, with only Meath, Wicklow and Cork county and city achieving more than 30%. 10.6.9 These figures are however based on total transactions. A difficulty arises from the fact that not all vehicles can be taxed using the online system. If the uptake is measured against eligible business there is an encouraging trend. The online system reached 51% of eligible business and 43% of overall business in January-February 2010, compared to 44% and 39% respectively for the same period last year. Nevertheless, a greater uptake 139
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Report of the Local Government Effi
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5. Organisational Efficiency Issues
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14. Recommendations 14.1 Recommenda
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associated Government Statement, ne
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more focussed than previously on mu
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ating town councils is largely repr
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• The provision of quality custom
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1.7 Compliance Requirements on Loca
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2.1 National Public Finances 2. Bud
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Figure 2.2 - Total Local Authority
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evenue were needed for the local go
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Figure 2.3 - Sources of Local Autho
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Figure 2.4 -Sources of Local Author
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Figure 2.5 - Local Authority Curren
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Payroll Expenses Table 2.4 - Breakd
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2. Reintroducing domestic water cha
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Income €m € 1,600.0 € 1,400.0
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3. Local Government Experience of E
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maintenance are provided by the cou
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well as reductions in the number of
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4. Context - Looking Forward 4.1 Na
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4.2.6 Aside from keeping costs down
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5. Organisational Efficiency Issues
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statutorily vested in certain ratin
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5.5.6 Roads are classified into nat
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the majority of town councils, a pl
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5.7 Other Local Bodies 5.7.1 A smal
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• County council offices / area o
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Figure 6.1 - Local Authority Staff
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Figure 6.2 - Staffing per 1,000 Pop
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Figure 6.5 - Staffing Per 1,000 Pop
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Cluster Data Cluster Mayo Roscommon
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senior management staff - for examp
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ut this figure varies from 22% to 5
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eplacement with lower level staff w
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Corporate Services, HR, IT, and Fin
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to provide services in the corporat
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Recommendations: 6.11.1 In summary,
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7.1 Local Government Audit 7. Value
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through open recruitment. Opportuni
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the Director and relevant local gov
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7.6.3 Local authorities should cons
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8. Shared Services 8.1 Shared Servi
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Page 133 and 134: educe the number of such transactio
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Page 137: in the trend of rationalisation of
Page 141 and 142: detail in issuing licences. Motor t
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Page 175 and 176: Housing 48. Housing sections within
Page 177 and 178: Planning monitoring by other public
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Page 181 and 182: that just because these recommendat
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Page 185 and 186: Appendix 2 - Local Government Effic
Page 187 and 188: Gross Current Income by Source and
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County Councils Housing and Buildin
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Town Councils Housing and Building
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Non-Rating Town Councils (1) Paymen
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Regional Assembly Payments Receipts
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Local Authority Current Expenditure
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Town Council Population Size (Censu
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Appendix 5 - Local Government Net B
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Former Town Commissioners 2010 Net
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Appendix 7 - Performance Indicators
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Appendix 9 - Unaccounted for Water
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Appendix 11 - Membership of County
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Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

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