Air travel tax gathers €67m in first six months of operation

The Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan confirmed yesterday that the air travel tax introduced on April 1 this year had collected €67.3m in the first six months of operation. When first announced in October of last year the Minister had stated that the tax would add €95m in 2009 and €150m in a full year to exchequer returns.

Even allowing for the fact that the bulk of travel takes place during the summer months it is going to be difficult to reach this year's target. Based on the first six months performance it would appear that achieving €150m in a full year is a tall order based on current traffic levels.

The minister was asked in the Dail (Parliament) by Labour TD Joanna Tuffy, Spokeperson on Environment and Heritage if the government planned to review the tax. Minister Lenihan responded negatively in a written reply which would appear to be the same reply which Fine Gael TD Pat Breen has received on two recent occassions on the same matter.