As the Deputy will be aware, on 12 April Government announced a second package of measures to address increased energy prices. Included in the package was a further excise rate reduction which brings the overall reduction on auto diesel to 32 cent per litre inclusive of the NORA levy reduction. All consumers of auto diesel benefit from this reduction.
Additionally, there is a long standing VAT relief in place on diesel expenditure used solely for business purposes. Further information on what a business can and cannot reclaim VAT on is available on the Revenue website at: www.revenue.ie/en/vat/reclaiming-vat/index.aspx.
With regard to the Diesel Rebate Scheme, this provides qualifying road haulage and passenger transport operators with a partial repayment of Mineral Oil Tax paid on auto-diesel. The scheme operates in accordance with the EU’s Energy Tax Directive, and the General Block Exemption Regulation on State aid.
The vires for the Diesel Rebate Scheme originates in Article 7 of the Energy Tax Directive and this makes clear that only hauliers and bus operators can come within the scope of the scheme. This arises from the Directive stipulating both the purpose for which the fuel can be used in order to qualify for a relief, and the type of vehicle that can qualify for the relief.
The scope of the scheme is prescribed in law. Qualifying road haulage and passenger transport operators must hold either a national operator’s licence issued under the Road Traffic and Transport Act 2006, or a European Community licence issued by the competent authority in another Member State. In addition, in the case of road haulage, the auto-diesel must be used in a vehicle with a maximum permissible gross laden weight of not less than 7.5 tonnes. For passenger transport, the vehicle concerned must be classified as a Category M2 or M3 vehicle under Regulation (EU) 2018/858. This includes buses, and minibuses with more than eight seating positions in addition to the driver's seating position. All qualifying criteria must be met to participate in the scheme.
