Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister most sincerely for taking time out of his busy schedule. I really appreciate it. It is very good of him to come before the committee to assist us in our work. I will try to be helpful in telling him about some of what I have been hearing on the ground.

I have had discussions with people involved in the tourism sector in recent days. As the Minister will know, the county I represent, County Kerry, is the premier tourism capital of Ireland and of the world. The hoteliers and all the business people have told me they are finding it difficult to get employees to fill positions in their businesses. For varying reasons, they lost their employees during the pandemic. They redeployed to other sectors that were able to stay operating. I have first-hand experience of dealing with some projects that were allowed to continue during the pandemic. For instance, it is ironic that those managing some of the larger public contracts taking place throughout the country are also finding it difficult to get people with the varying skill sets required to work on the ground. I am telling the Minister this because as Minister for Finance I genuinely want him to hear it. I am only saying it to be helpful. I presume he knows it already. Deputy Canney rightly highlighted in his excellent contribution what is currently happening in the housing market as a result of the cost of materials having greatly increased. I would make a special plea to the Minister on behalf of the Rural Independent Group which, as he will know, has flagged the issue of VAT imposed on insulation material. We are encouraging the owners of private houses and businesses to insulate their homes and the places where we work to conserve energy and thereby reduce fuel bills. It is a big disincentive for the State to charge VAT on those goods. I would be worried about that. The Minister might closely examine that area when future budgets are being adopted.

In recent days, I have outlined my concerns about the timing of the introduction of carbon taxes and what they will mean for every man, women and child. I hope the Minister heard those concerns. All of us are interested in protecting the environment. I appreciate we are all only custodians of the environment but we cannot cripple people with taxes. I believe in and adore democracy. I appreciate and fully respect the right of people to vote for whoever they want to elect to different positions. I have nothing but the utmost respect for a person who gets to the position of being a Minister, and in particular a Minister for Finance and all that entails. However, I am worried about the future in that we are giving control of carbon budgets to a group of people who are not elected and were not put into their positions by anybody in the public domain. I have grave concerns about that. If we as legislators are entitled to vote at budget time that is fine, and we live in a democracy. If other Deputies vote through a measure that I do not like, my attitude is that is fine because that is democracy. However, I am concerned when I see a group of disciples being brought together. We are being told that this group will tell the Irish people in future how much tax they will pay in terms of carbon tax and what areas will be affected. I have no problem with the Minister for Finance introducing a budget and our voting on it but my God if we are going down the road of unelected people having a say in the future finances of our people, I would have grave concerns about that. I must put that on public record. It would be wrong of me to say it in other forums and not to say it in front of the Minister.

I sincerely thank the Minister for his work. I acknowledge he is in his ministerial role at an extremely difficult time. I respect work and people I see working and doing their jobs. I know the Minister is doing that. I might not agree with everything he does or with what his Government does but I appreciate the reasons he does it. I also appreciate the reason those in government think every decision they make is perfect and right, but I would not agree with all of those all the time. A number of sectors of society have been closed for a long time. I would not have agreed with that decision but what is done is done. As a representative of those people, be they people involved in different areas of hospitality, hairdressers or beauticians, I know they are not happy. The fact that people were not allowed to go mass and up until today only ten people were allowed to attend a funeral has greatly upset many people. While those in government might have thought they were acting in the best interest of the health of the people, they alienated themselves from many people because people did not agree with what they were doing. I thank the Chairperson for the opportunity to make that contribution and I will stay quiet now.