Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ireland has a very ambitious plan when it comes to cutting emissions, especially in the electricity sector for which a target of 80% is planned. I find that difficult to understand, particularly as demand is set to increase with upcoming demand from data centres, an increase in population and demand for power points to service electric cars. Offshore renewable energy has the answer and all the power generated at sea will be a resource for the economy. The development of power grids that facilitate the connection of offshore wind to Ireland and European power grids will require a massive infrastructure but, undoubtedly, will be welcomed.

The Rural Independent Group welcomes the alternatives whenever, and I emphasise this, they become available. For this reason, it pains me to ask the Government again why it would penalise the Irish people with a crippling carbon tax before such alternatives are in place?

I have concerns about the development of ports around deep water and reinforced quays in terms of their identification. I am concerned Ireland has not embraced floating wind farms rather than the fixed bottom sector to contribute to the 2030 emissions targets. The former are noted for the 2050 emissions targets. That sends out the wrong message to companies such as Equinor, which had no confidence in our commitments and left the market. We are considering offshore wind turbines only in respect of meeting our 2050 emissions targets. Companies have decided Ireland is not at the races and have left the market because of our failure to make investments in offshore wind energy. That is a failure on the part of the Government.

I will give the Minister of State a simple example from the farming community, which the Government is trying to cripple. Last week, a farmer with 130 average size cows who pays €850 per month for electricity installed solar panels to run his farm on solar power and reduce emissions. The cost of the solar panels was €21,500. He got a grant of €3,000 and then had to pay 13.5% VAT on installation. How long will it take for him to recoup the initial cost of €21,500? Surely there is supposed to be an incentive for farmers to install solar power. I will give a breakdown of the cost involved. The solar panels cost €21,500. The Government gave a grant of €3,000 and then asked the farmer to pay 13.5% VAT for their installation, at a cost of €2,497.50, bringing the cost involved to €20,997.50. This means the Government gave the farmer a grant of €502.50, not €3,000. We are supposed to be incentivising farmers to help us in this area. On the one hand, the Government is saying it is incentivising them but, on the other hand it, it is taking back the incentive.

I also have concerns we are not developing quickly enough turbine technician apprenticeship programmes in schools. Coming from the business sector, I know that if we build a unit, we will need a trained person to service that unit. Are we going to import everything for that? We have competent students who would take up apprenticeships and learn how to work, fix and design wind farms.

Again, however, the Government has been caught on the back foot. It is not investing in the youth of today in the context of technology going forward. We will be caught again because the Government is going to look for it outside of Ireland. People outside Ireland, for example, on the Continent, look to Ireland because of our education sector and how bright the Irish people are, but our Government is not so bright, given that it will not invest in apprenticeships for renewable energy. This is, again, me coming to the Government, showing it from a business perspective how to future-proof.

We in the Rural Independent Group welcome renewable energy, but all the Government has done is create a layer of tax that means nobody in this country can invest in solar panels or in reducing emissions because its answer to the current fuel crisis was to add tax through the percentage system it uses. I again go back to business. With the banking sector, people can get a fixed-price mortgage that shows the percentage they will have to pay, gives a structure to every household that has a mortgage and shows how much money will come out of the household's account to pay for the house. The State applies a percentage rate on the cost of fuel coming into the country. As a result, if there is a fuel increase in this country, the State takes a percentage on top. In 2020, the State took 81 cent per litre of fuel, while in 2021, it is taking €1.05 because when the cost of fuel increased, the State took its percentage and the tax was added.

That tax hits every farmer and every person in Ireland. It costs more money to produce food, which means the next person adds on the cost, and in turn, everyone who goes shopping tomorrow morning will pay more for it. People will pay more not only for their food but also for their fuel because the Government has added a tax. In the short term, until the cost of fuel decreases, I ask the Government to take a common-sense approach and apply a fixed tax for fuel. I understand there has to be tax to pay the bills but, at a time of crisis such as the Covid pandemic, when there is an international fuel crisis, the Government did not act. It could have fixed the price on fuel, and if there was a cost increase, we would accept that but we do not accept that we must pay additional tax on top of the increase. The State would still get its tax. The Government is penalising everyone, whether through the clothes on my back or the food I will eat today. Everything depends on fuel prices, and the answer of the Government was to increase the tax, given the percentage rate it applies. I reiterate we all know we have to pay tax but, at a time of crisis, the Government has failed the people. With the increases, it is taxing everyone more.

I have been informed farmers are coming to Dublin on Sunday and that members of the Irish Road Haulage Association are coming on Monday. They will not leave until the Government sees common sense. They will be here to protect everyone in Ireland and they want the Government to see that because they have been given no alternative and no hearing by the Government. The only Minister who has come back to me was the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. I spoke to him on Zoom and he told me he was going to talk to the Minister for Finance. I got one phone call from the Taoiseach to say he would look into it. The people are coming to Dublin and it is not just the 25 counties outside Dublin. People from rural County Dublin, too, have contacted me to thank me for looking out for them because they feel the Government is not listening. People from the 26 counties of the Republic, therefore, and from the six in the North are coming to Dublin to make the Government see common sense.

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