Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the people who are here this evening and I thank them for being here. It would be remiss of us to speak about peat without mentioning two people. One is our late grandmother, Nana Rae, who cut turf in the bog barefoot. That is where we came from. The other is our late father and if he heard about the cessation of peat extraction, he would first ask if the people have gone mad.

I know we must deal with the realities of climate change but I do not agree that we must go down the road we are and accept everything being thrown at us. For example, if we go away from discussing the big commercial harvesting of peat, we are left with the people who want to cut turf for themselves. Those people can never be denied the right to cut turf. These are traditional turf cutters who want to provide fuel for heat in their homes. They cannot ever be interfered with. People in the Government got a fright with the water charges but they will not know what will hit them if they think they can stand on the people who want to cut turf themselves for their homes.

The Government is dealing with the issues in the midlands in a reactive way. There is no plan and it is jumping from crisis to crisis with no organisation. The families affected by job losses cherished the work they had. They and their fathers before them were brought up working on the bogs. I certainly do not like to see that right being taken away from them. I appreciate very much the dignity in the work done by these people for many years in providing turf and peat products around the country and Europe. We must be very careful in how we proceed.

We are talking about moving the carbon tax from €20 to €26 per tonne and up to a possible €80 per tonne. That would be unsustainable for the taxpayers and if they realise the implications on household budgets there would be outrage. It is not hitting people immediately so they do not realise what is coming down the road. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and everybody else seem to be saying this is all right but I am not saying it is all right. A carbon tax of €20 per tonne going to €26 and up to €80 is not right for struggling families that cannot balance their budgets or provide heat and fuel to homes right now. What will they do when the reality dawns? It will be completely unbearable. The Government must treat people with respect and it cannot stand on them all the time. The people will rise up and bite back.

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