Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Had this policy of capital taxes on electricity generators been proposed by Sinn Féin, we would have put it down as the usual stuff expected from that party, but I am surprised it is Fine Gael's motion. If its Deputies paid attention to what was occurring in the country, they would know the ESB has put in place a new €22 billion strategy up to 2020. This will see a major investment in renewable energy, lead to a halving of the ESB's carbon emissions within 12 years and achieve a net carbon-zero effect by 2035. I am surprised the Fine Gael response is to impose a capital tax.

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