Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I will do so. The lack of certainty in the solid fuels sector and the complete lack of a plan for the windfall profits made by energy companies on the back of consumers and businesses results in high energy prices in Ireland. We are not taking these back and spending at a time when we desperately need money. What happened to the memo leaked over the summer which stated that the Government would recoup windfall tax from energy generators? Why has this not been done in the budget? Instead we will introduce a new carbon tax to raise new revenue when for the past two years we have had a carbon tax which nobody knows about. I support the introduction of a carbon tax on petrol and diesel for cars.

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