Just to update on the previous post, Understanding rural transport statistics: Why are there so many new cars in county Roscommon? ,the compiler of the vehicle licensing statistics in Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has clarified that there is a Car Hire company office operating in Roscommon which taxes all new vehicles for the Car Hire Company (i.e. all the offices in Ireland) for the first time in the County – the figures in the previous post were based on the first taxing of the vehicle and not the registration. This company taxed 2,236 vehicles out of the 4,877 vehicles in 2015. That is nearly 45% of the new private cars licensed for the first time in the county.
It is good to know there is a simple explanation, and again, a useful reminder that there can be unexpected patterns in the data we look at day to day !
Helen McHenry
WDC Insights 