Dan is doing really badly. Just like Mary White his maths is all over the place. He stated that 1/8th of the population changing their cars every year was unsustainable. He was corrected by Bill Cullen that it is 1/80th. Dan got very ratty bringing in Cullen's loss of the Renault franchise into it and calling Cullen 'obsessed' with this.

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Seabhcan on EU Enlargement and the Lisbon Treaty: "There is no shortage of cheap labour - Turkey isn't needed."

Well, there are equally environmental implications for having aging cars on the road if the industry does collapse i.e. increased emissions and decreased safety standards.

The new road tax regime will drive people towards more efficient cars, hybrids etc however, if the motor industry is collapsing due to lack of finance availability for people to buy these cars, it'll take much longer for the 'national fleet' of cars to become more CO2 efficient. Instead, we'll just see an increasing number of polluting bangers on the road.

Also, I am starting to get the feeling that the Greens may see economic collapse as a way of reducing CO2 emissions and perhaps they aren't all that interested in economic recovery if it means our carbon foot print might increase too.

Yep heard that Interview - Boyler got destroyed big time

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"I will submit that the economic and political crises that face this country will never be dealt with unless the culture and values of the political and administrative classes undergo profound change" (Emily O'Reilly, Ombudsman/Info Commissioner)

Failed car salesman vs failed politician. Earth shattering it ain't.

Cradle to grave, its always better to drive an existing car rather than invest energy in building a new one.

Furthermore, the most important aspect of motoring re. emissions is the amount you drive your car, not the level of emissions it produces or its age.

There are people who own 10 year landrovers who produce fewer emissions than girls-about-town who own Nissan Micras.

I love the fact that Cullen is getting up the hole due to the new Emissions based VRT system. Couldn't happen to a nicer chap. Lets not forget that this is the same BC who extolled the virtues of the 'great day out' himself and da missus had at the FF Tent at the Galway Races.


And only €200 a head? Sure it was for nuttin'.....

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Countries than produce fewer total CO2 emissions than Ireland:

Bangladesh (Pop. 162m)
Ethiopia (Pop. 80m)
Peru (Pop.30m)


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In a normal year and including second hand cars sold privately as well as commercially, Boyles figure of 1/8, i.e 500,000 approx cars is probably closer to overall number of cars, new and old, than Cullens figure of 1/80, i.e 50,000.

New car sales for the first ten months of the year, (2008) 150,790, were down18.22 per cent on the same period in 2007, when 184,394 new cars were sold, according to the data published by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (Simi - from Irish Times report.

So both Cullen and Boyle were using figures that suited their own purposes.

Driving style is almost as important as car emissions too.

Someone with a large car who does things like taking their foot off the accelerator as soon as they see a light turn red ahead of them can end up with emissions below someone with a small car who adopts a charge and brake late style of driving.

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My political compass
Economic Left/Right: 0.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.36

Bill Cullen knows the car trade well including doing the math off the cuff like the good car sales man he is. Dan Boyle is just not up to debating the issue with him and perhaps they should have rolled out somebody else.

BTW having bought cars all my life , perhaps 30 or more, I know that of all people I know, nobody is better than a car sales man, if he can get away with it, to extract €1,000's from your pocket and put it into his.

1/80th of a population of over 4 million equates to roughly 50,000 new car sales a year which may be accurate for the last 12 months of a recession but is far too wide of the mark for new car sales in a normal year.

Don't both those good points mean it would make a lot more sense to abolish car-tax and increase tax on fuel. The more you use the more you pay.