Why not open Bike-to-Work scheme to all tax payers?

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper.

Michael Commane

I think it’s ok to announce your birthday after it has happened; it would not be good taste to announce it in advance.

I was 77 last Wednesday, April 29. In the days leading up to my birthday I always think of my parents but especially my mother. I am told my birth was complicated, that I weighed under one pound. I often mean to check the hospital records, but have not yet done so. I must do it.

By coincidence I collected my new electric bicycle on my birthday. I had ordered it a week earlier.

Twelve years ago when I bought a fold-up bicycle I was sure that would be my last bicycle to buy but once again I proved myself wrong; a common occurrence with me.

Fortunately, I was able to buy the bicycle on the Bike-to-Work scheme, which enables the purchaser to obtain tax credit on the first €1,500 on the price of the bicycle. The tax credit is based on the tax band the employee is on. The scheme only applies to PAYE workers. In shopping around for the bicycle I discovered the vast majority of bicycles bought today are bought on the BTW scheme. Two shops told me that over 90 percent of their bicycle sales are via the scheme.

It’s a great incentive to get people out on their bikes. But why not open the scheme to everyone? At present the employer pays the shop €1,500 upfront and then, usually over a period of a year, makes the relevant reductions in the employee’s salary, taking into account the employee’s tax band.

There are many people, who are not PAYE employees and it seems to me it is unfair that they are not eligible to avail of the deal. 

For example, pensioners, who are not PAYE employees are not eligible. It would be simple for the State to deduct from their pension and do it over a period longer than 12 months if necessary. It could be arranged for all tax payers.

The State is making progress in making it safer for cyclists on our roads but the progress is far too slow. 

Yes, there are a few trophy cycle paths in existence but the majority of our roads are simply not safe for cyclists. There was a time when I would tell every young person to get cycling. 

Not any longer. We are taking our lives in our hands, especially in cities and built up areas, every time we get up on our bicycles. I know; I’m cycling 72 years. Guess who have become terrors on our roads; those speeding cyclists, who think they are on cycling tracks. There are the scooters, and e-bikes that are doctored to travel faster than 25 km/h. They pass me every day cycling at speeds of 40 km/h.

And then there all those motorists, cyclists too, who do not keep the 1/1.5 metre rule.

All that said, if you are super careful I hesitatingly suggest, especially in this, the best time of the year, to get yourself a bicycle and pedal your way through the spring and summer.

I feel a tiny bit guilty using an electric bicycle. But be assured, I’m still using my conventional bicycle.