Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to speak to amendment No. 72 and also to support amendments Nos. 76 and 77.

There has been a lot of talk about just transition and some people will ask if it is just a fancy slogan or a buzzword, or if it has any meaning at all. I represent the county of Donegal and what the people of Donegal see in this section is simply more taxes - more taxes to get from A to B and to drive their car, more cost being placed on their families to heat their homes and more cost to cook their food.

The date of 15 February 1965, over 55 years ago, was an important one in Donegal. It was the last time a train rolled out of the county, the last time a public service that most other counties in this State can enjoy was available to the people of Donegal. If it was genuinely serious about dealing with the issues of climate change, the Government would put in place the alternatives, build the infrastructure and ensure we have the resources available to support people to make that transition from reliance on a petrol or diesel car to proper public transport. However, after ten years in government, perhaps the Minister can tell me what his party and his partner in government have done - given they have been in power for the past 100 years between them - in regard to enhancing public services in Donegal. Have they thought once about increasing public transport and providing rail infrastructure to the people of the county?

The reality, and it has been pointed out by other speakers, including Deputy Carthy, who represents Cavan and Monaghan, is that they are only other two counties in this State that do not have a rail network, and Tyrone and Fermanagh complete the picture. Those are the five counties without adequate public transport. Yet, there are no plans by this Government, despite the fact that, in this legislation, it wants this House to vote in not only an increase in carbon tax this year on solid fuel, natural gas, mineral oil, petrol and diesel, but also for it to increase next year, the year after and the year after that, right up until 2030, without any commitment in regard to how those people will be supported or protected in those subsequent years - none whatsoever. The reality is we do not trust the Government. Why would we trust Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil on these matters? The Minister brings up an issue where he says some people will be protected because of social welfare measures this year, at a fraction of the actual taxes that will be collected this year, but there is no commitment for any other year.

This carbon tax will make people poorer. It will make it more expensive for them to heat their homes, to get to work, to the GP and to the shops and to cook their food. That is the reality. This is not about saving the environment.

All this will do in the absence of alternatives is make families poorer.

The Minister, as he tried to do yesterday, will talk about Sinn Féin, carbon taxes and all the rest. Taxes can do two things, as I have said over and over again. They can raise revenue for the State, which is a legitimate purpose, or they can be introduced to try to change behaviour. However, if it is done for the latter reason, and there are many examples of where we have done it in the past and where Sinn Féin called for those type of taxes or supported Government measures such as the sugar-sweetened drinks taxes and other taxes, we have to make sure that the alternatives exist, so this is a tax on rural Ireland. This is a tax on lower income households. The ESRI supports carbon taxes but it has also made it clear that there are different ways to introduce carbon taxes that are more progressive. The Green Party, before it sold its soul to the devils - Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil - used to argue for a redistribution model that would go back 100% into the pockets of the public. The ESRI said that that would alleviate the impact of the carbon tax and the fact that it is disproportionate and affects those who are rural dwellers, from low income households and households with children. However, the Minister is planning to plough ahead and for that reason Sinn Féin will be opposing this section and in terms of our amendments Nos. 72, 76 and 77, I will be pushing amendment No. 72 to a vote.

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