Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Labour Party supports Financial Resolution No. 1, the increase of 50 cent per pack of 20 cigarettes. We accept the view of the tax strategy group that it is unlikely to contribute a great increase in yield because the objective is to reduce demand rather than to get money. In this regard, however, I note that 13% of cigarettes consumed in the State now are illicit. We must be mindful of that. The higher the base price of the legal cigarette, the greater the incentive to smuggle tobacco. We must hear from the Minister that there are robust measures to tackle that. It is also the case that 9% of cigarettes consumed are legally imported by travellers and tourists, a rate which will probably increase. As long as the prices continue to rise, everyone will be asking people to bring them back. We must be mindful as we increase the base price that we are not simply giving our taxes to others and allowing smugglers to thrive.

The carbon tax increase is the first instalment of a trajectory agreed by the all-party committee. While the Labour Party supports it, we want to see clear mitigation measures in line with the joint committee's recommendations. Bluntly, we have not seen those today. We will give the Government some leeway to spell out exactly how it intends to combat fuel poverty. Bluntly again, not having any base rise in social welfare today and not doing anything to implement the recommendations on the minimum wage do not augur well for the Government's view on mitigating poverty, in particular fuel poverty.

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