Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. The costs of energy and fuel have been front and centre of the spiralling price increases in the past year or so. The Government is giving the energy companies a payment on behalf of all households in the State but it is not addressing the root cause of the price increases. Given the scale of the price hikes, it will not be enough.

Carbon tax is a regressive and unfair tax. The Government claims it will encourage people to change their behaviours but we all know that this is not the case for so many people. Many are not in a position to change their behaviours no matter how much they would like to. People living in rural areas with little or no public transport cannot choose the bus over the car. People who cannot afford to choose cleaner ways to heat their homes are stuck with oil and gas. Most people cannot afford to retrofit their homes, even with the Government's new plan. These measures are just so out of reach for so many people. It is not the carbon tax that will change behaviour but the huge increases in the cost of fuel. People will not be able to afford to heat their homes. Everyone is seeing their bills increase and people are paying more and more for energy in their homes and also at the petrol pump.

The cost of home heating has increased by 50% in the past 12 months. In May, the Government will increase the carbon tax on fuels to heat homes. The price of gas has increased by 28%, petrol by 30%, and diesel by 32%. The plan is to hike up the carbon tax on transport fuels in October.

We urgently need to see the establishment of an expert advisory group on energy poverty. We need to consider current and projected energy poverty levels, address the causes, both in Ireland and internationally, and find remedies to address energy poverty and onerous energy bills. We need the Government to acknowledge that the research behind its carbon tax regime does not take these huge price hikes into account and that the tax needs to be revised to reflect the reality on the ground. In the meantime, we need to scrap the planned carbon tax increases immediately.

See this speech in context