Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In supporting Financial Resolution No. 2, as my colleague has said, I want to raise a point in the context of coming from rural Ireland and the fact that mitigating circumstances exist for the dependency on fossil fuels in that area. Thought should be given in future legislation to those mitigating circumstances.

I suggest that the Government is in breach of the National Oil Reserve Agency Act 2007 in continuing to level a 2 cent per litre tax increase because the Act is explicit in stating it is for raising funds to cover, but not exceed, the running cost of the National Oil Reserve Agency. Its costs are approximately €100 million per year and there is €250 million per year in that account at the moment. The Government has talked about re-purposing that money but that is not in the spirit of the legislation. I ask the Government to look at the potential to give some respite to people by reducing that level from 2 cent per litre to 0.5 cent per litre because that will cover the cost.

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