Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 11:

In page 20, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “Tax Credit Claim

17.A tax credit can be claimed where travel to work is in excess of 15,000 kilometres per annum. ”.

The amendment concerns carbon tax. Throughout the country, many people travel a substantial mileage. Although some live in cities, due to their work they may have to travel to various parts of the country. Many people in rural Ireland are forced to drive because of the lack of public transport and people on average wages must rear their families, with the general costs of mortgages and so on.

The Government seeks to apply carbon tax, and I am sure the Minister will talk about the Government assisting people with fuel allowance and so on. Nevertheless, I refer to people who are not in that category and who have no choice but to travel long distances to work. The amendment seeks to raise the mileage limit to the figure stated not in order that everyone will reach it but rather for work purposes only. I ask the Minister to consider extending the tax credit to the people I have described. We are making some sections of the community poorer because they go to work, having got up early in the morning, in the way Government has previously highlighted.