Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Why did the Taoiseach not answer the question I asked? I asked whether he could give me a precise trajectory of the annual increases in carbon tax that will happen year by year over the next five years. The Minister for Finance has said that there will be carbon tax increases. The Taoiseach said in August that there will be carbon tax increases. It is all very well to make a specific pledge on one aspect of a budgetary package, that being income tax, but that has to be paid for. Explicitly, the Taoiseach came to us last year and said the Government would pay for last year's tax package via commercial stamp duty, a one-off windfall owing to an increase from 2% to 6%. This year, there is no question but that the Government could not have provided a €300 million tax package without deciding to increase VAT on the hotel and food sectors back to 13%. That is what paid for it. Otherwise, there would have been drastic cuts in services, for example, health and education, which the Taoiseach has not suggested will happen.

The bottom line that we are failing abysmally in terms of our climate change targets. There is no question or dispute about that. The ESRI has said that this will be the reality over the next number of years and that it will have to be paid for.

My question was simple. The Taoiseach has said on the record that carbon tax will and should be increased. Can he give me a precise trajectory as to how much it will increase by, or is the ESRI completely off the mark with the figure of €3,000 per household by 2024? It is a fair question. The Government will not be able to reduce-----

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