Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Not removing the taxes is a measure we will all live to regret. Not doing so will increase the cost of the food the Government wants the farmers to produce up in the heavens and add to the cost of tractor fuel. Two cent a litre is a joke, but the farmers are not laughing. Not removing tax and VAT will drive inflation through the roof and drive the country head-on into a deep, dark recession that will make the 1980s look like a holiday. It would be funny except that the joke is on us. The Taoiseach has not addressed the fact that the Government is applying tax on tax and there is no real reduction here for anybody. Do not quote to me that it is a commodity. The Government has done nothing to safeguard us from the fact that the experts say the price of a barrel of oil will rise to $200 and the pump price could go to €3.50 a litre. What will the Taoiseach say to the people then? Today people are thinking prices should be reduced when in effect last night Diesel Card Ireland, DCI, and many other suppliers put fuel up by 15 cent a litre. That was notified to customers two days ago. This is what the Government cannot seem to take on board. It cannot seem to join the dots. It is time to get real. People will not be able to afford to go to work.

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