Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Workers and families are facing a cost-of-living crisis. As people in this State face what are among the highest rents, mortgage interest rates, insurance costs and childcare costs in Europe, they are also burdened with ever-increasing electricity, heating and fuel costs. Rather than supporting families to meet these burdens, the Government has responded by increasing them further through the imposition of carbon taxes. Bizarrely, the package to address the cost-of-living crisis — a package that was discussed for months but fell far short of what is required — will be followed by a Government-imposed hike in home heating costs in the next few weeks. It is madness and maddening. This is an action of a Government that is completely out of touch with the lived reality of those it is supposed to represent. It is as if there is no understanding that this is not simply a case of people not wanting to pay additional carbon taxes. They cannot afford further price hikes.

What is worse, Ministers will stand in this Chamber and try to defend these price hikes. They will actually go so far as to patronisingly claim the increased costs are in people's best interest. For example, we will hear Ministers repeat the lie that farmers are going to receive €1.5 billion in carbon tax receipts. What they will not say is that this is actually a three-card trick because the €1.5 billion is actually less than what the Government negotiated away from farmers in an EU budget. Farmers will actually be asked to pay more in carbon tax while getting less in supports and being asked to do more for the environment. How is that for a just transition? The same is true for all other families and workers. Carbon taxes simply penalise those who have no option but to drive their own cars and who cannot afford to retrofit their homes. They are unfair at the best of times. However, to increase them right now is simply an attack. There is no other word for it. It is an attack by parties and Deputies who are blind to the struggles faced by those who simply cannot make ends meet.

I commend this motion to the House. History will judge very harshly those Deputies who reject it because the carbon tax increase must be scrapped in recognition of the hardship that too many citizens of this State are going through.

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