Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

To be clear, what is needed are caps on energy and heating prices. That is what we believe is the necessary action.

While the Minister is clearly not going to do that, although he should, it is unacceptable to add additional hardship to people by further increasing carbon taxes. He is absolutely right that on its own it is not enough. He has control of VAT, the PSO and carbon tax. This is more than €1.2 billion worth of taxes that will be levied on people's energy use, with most of it hitting the least well off. Does the Minister honestly think he should not reduce this and that he should certainly not even contemplate increasing it when we have excess winter deaths and people not able to pay the bills? They are literally making choices between food and bills and skipping meals. Does he not think it is totally unjust?

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