Charlie McCreevy (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I am not saying that is what will happen, only that it is envisaged in the consultation paper. The matter of emissions trading has been raised recently by my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. He is doing this now because we are required under EU law to have our submissions on emissions trading with the Commission before 31 March this year. Other countries are doing the same thing; Ireland is the second country whose Government has made an announcement on this matter. As I said, it was envisaged in the consultation paper that those covered by emissions trading would not also be subject to the proposed carbon energy tax.

What will happen with the carbon energy tax depends on the assumptions one makes about the level of tax per tonne. I announced in the budget of December 2002 that we would consider the introduction of a carbon energy tax by the end of 2004. The consultation process in which we have engaged has resulted in a large number of submissions, which we recently published on the Department's website. Roughly 49% of the submissions are in favour of the tax while 51% are against, although some people are in the middle. I am glad the Deputy mentioned some of the reasons for caution in this regard. If he feels strongly about these matters he should speak to some of his colleagues in his own party — although not many — and his colleagues directly behind him. These are some of the considerations that must be borne in mind before the Government can make a decision. Those who take a simplistic view ignore some of the matters to which the Deputy has referred.

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