Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have voted against these measures in this and the previous budget. This is clearly a revenue-raising exercise that will hit the least well-off. When considered alongside the reduction in the fuel allowance, it will hit yet again those who just cannot afford to be hit. It is spurious in the extreme to suggest it has anything to do with CO2 reductions. It is a straightforward revenue-raising exercise. If the Government was serious about reducing CO2 emissions, it could instead develop wood burning as an option, thereby expanding forestry. This would obviously mean not selling off Coillte's harvesting rights. As wood fuel we grow ourselves is carbon neutral, we could achieve the reductions in CO2 by expanding this sector but not by imposing an extra tax on those who cannot afford it, which is what this really is. It is spurious to suggest it has anything to do with carbon emissions; it is an unfair tax which I oppose.