Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This carbon tax is brutal, punitive and a lazy cop-out. It is a failure by the Government to take the hard decisions and to tackle the root causes, the big polluters and the issues of poverty, including energy poverty. It is also a failure to provide alternatives. There is the equivalent of a two and a half-year wait for the warmer homes scheme. Were one to join the queue today, 8,000 people would already be on the list. With approximately 3,000 houses being processed per year, that represents a wait of two and a half years. Even if someone wanted to do his or her part, he or she would not be a position to do so thanks to the Government.

These increases look like they will be nailed on, but the so-called offsets like fuel allowance are not nailed on in any shape or form. It is a damning indictment of the Government.

See this speech in context