Improvements in vehicle fuel efficiencies by international manufacturers have been eroded in Ireland by the tendency of consumers to buy larger vehicles such as high-performance executive cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs).
A series of recent reports shows that car buyers in Ireland have in general been purchasing larger vehicles, which has been a significant factor in the steep rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
Figures to be published next week will show that transport was the main cause of a significant rise in overall greenhouse gas levels in Ireland.
Proposals to introduce a new system of vehicle registration tax (VRT) and motor tax, which would apply higher rates to vehicles with higher emissions, were announced by Minister for Finance Brian Cowen in the Budget last December.
They will not come into effect until next January.
Fine Gael yesterday accused the Government of having "completely fudged" the issue, and said the proposals outlined in the Budget did not go far enough.Fergus O'Dowd, the party's environment spokesman, welcomed yesterday's EU proposals but added that more stringent VRT measures were needed.
He believed "a carrot and stick approach" was needed to confront people who bought large vehicles.
There was no official response to the EU proposals from the Government yesterday, but it has previously indicated support for strict emissions targets for vehicles as part of an overall climate change strategy.
The proposals were welcomed by Fianna Fáil MEPs.
Liam Aylward, a Fianna Fáil member of the European Parliament's environment committee, said the EU "must remain to the forefront in becoming more energy-efficient and in guaranteeing that we substantially reduce the level of CO2".
Last September, a report by Sustainable Energy Ireland showed that the fuel efficiency of the Irish car fleet had worsened since 2000. The report found that the average fuel use in Irish cars was 7.2 litres per 100km travelled, up 1.6 per cent on 2000 figures. It leaves the average emission rate for Irish cars at 165g of CO2 per kilometre, above the voluntary EU target of 160g.
The cause of this has been a jump in the purchase of larger cars, at the expense of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Figures show that the number of cars with engine sizes of 1.2 litres or less is declining, while larger engines have become more popular.
The number of cars with engine sizes above 1.9 litres has almost doubled since 1990.
The trend towards buying larger cars continued last year, figures released by the Central Statistics Office last week suggest.
Drivers in Ireland bought 10,519 new private cars with engine capacity in the highest category of 2.4 litres or more in 2006, compared to just 1,895 in 1996.
This category would include most SUVs, high-performance sports cars and large executive cars.
The report also showed that in the 10-year period between 1996 and 2006, there was an increase of almost 160 per cent in private car sales, from 109,333 in 1996 to 173,273 in 2006.