Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge on behalf of the Government that we understand the enormous impact the rising cost of fuel and energy is having on people, whether it is people in business, particularly in the transport sector, those in agriculture, householders or individual citizens. I outlined in my response to Deputy Doherty the kind of things we are doing at the moment to help families with the cost of living.

Many of these, particularly tax reductions, welfare increases and pension increases, will kick in in January. I also outlined that we are considering helping with the cost of electricity, in particular.

I believe I did acknowledge the Deputy's email yesterday but, if I have not, I certainly will today. I think I heard the Deputy state the EU told us to reduce taxes. That is not true; that is something he made up. The EU has produced a toolbox of things governments can do, if they choose to, from their own resources to reduce the cost of energy. When using one's own resources to reduce the cost of energy, it has a consequence in that there are fewer resources for something else. That has to be borne in mind.

With regard to the carbon tax, I wish to state once again for the record that it is a particular type of tax. It does not go into the coffers and is not used for general government spending. It is ring-fenced to increase the fuel allowance for the most vulnerable in society, who need extra help to pay the bills. Had the carbon tax not gone up, it might not have been possible to increase the fuel allowance. That needs to be borne in mind by anybody involved in this debate. The revenue is also used for the likes of retrofitting homes, especially in rural areas, particularly the midlands, to turn homes that are very cold and expensive to heat into much warmer homes. The money is also ring-fenced for other aspects of climate action, such as the re-wetting of bogs and making sure Bord na Móna staff in rural Ireland, particularly the midlands, will continue to have a job. It is also used to invest in initiatives such as LED lighting to reduce energy bills for local authorities, thus improving their bottom line. Therefore, the carbon tax is a very particular one, and one that is ring-fenced for many good things that everybody believes should be funded.

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