Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to open by acknowledging the great challenges many are facing at present due to the rising cost of energy and to the change in the price of gas, oil, coal and diesel, primarily due to the impact of the war taking place in Ukraine. After the terrible difficulties of the past number of years due to Covid and with all of the challenges imposed on so many, and hoping that was beyond us, I absolutely understand why to be confronted by bills that have gone up so much in recent weeks is a cause of concern to so many and why it is a topic we debate regularly on the floor of the Dáil.

Given the number of charges being made about the Government not acting because we do not have compassion, the Government not acting because we do not care and the Government not using more money to respond to the needs I absolutely acknowledge are so real for so many, it is important to be crystal clear about one point here this evening, which is that the Government does not have any money. The money the Government has is the money we collect in taxes from the people and the money we borrow that the people will pay off in the future. Those are the only two sources of money the Government has available to make decisions about - money we collect in taxes and money we borrow that will be paid off from taxes in the future.

When the charges are made about the Government not doing more because we do not care, what we are doing is recognising two realities that were not acknowledged by any Opposition Member I heard here this evening. I did not hear - granted, I was not here for all of the debate - a single Opposition Member talk about how much any of his or her measures cost. There are two realities that we acknowledge. The first reality we acknowledge as a Government is that the bills or costs that are increasing are, of course, a cause of additional pressure and worry for many. We understand that, but the other reality we confront is that the money we are collecting through the taxes that most of the Opposition appear to want to abolish in their entirety is the same money we are using to pay for our schools, hospitals, public services and those things that are essential to our society and fundamental to the operation of our country. The irony cannot but be lost on me that we have many members of the Opposition make the charge that the Government is open to leaving too much to the market to deliver on its behalf while at the same time wanting to cut the very taxes the State needs at present to pay for public services the Opposition wants to improve all the time. On the one hand, members of the Opposition are repeatedly making the charge that the Government is not doing enough but when it comes to the very money the Government needs to do more with at present for all the reasons the House is so aware of, the Opposition comes in here and, by and large, says we should abolish the taxes that pay for the public services needed at present. I will come back to that word "abolition" in a moment.

Let us look at the steps the Government has taken which were covered off by the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming. Measures worth €1.9 billion have been put in place by the Government using the people's money to respond to the impact of prices we know have already gone up and in anticipation of further change that could happen in the future.

I refer to the measures that were taken on budget day, in particular regarding personal taxation, that the Opposition voted against. The Opposition was against tax reductions in October, and it is for them in March. The measures are making a difference to those on low to middle incomes in particular, who are already paying the higher rate of income tax. That is something we changed on budget day. We sought to make progress on it in anticipation of the higher cost of energy and rising inflation as we moved through the year, but the Opposition voted against it - the single measure that could make a difference year by year to the cost of living challenges so many face at the moment.

Additional measures were introduced earlier this year. I refer to the €125 payment that will go to those most at risk of fuel poverty and the €200 energy rebate that will soon appear on energy bills. Deputy Seán Crowe stated the Government says it has done enough. That is not a claim I have ever made, nor would I ever make it, cognisant of the difficulties so many face. What I say here this evening, as I have said in every debate up to this point, is that we cannot do everything to meet all of the needs the Opposition continually raise regarding the rising cost of energy and every other issue on which the Government also has to make progress. In recent weeks, we introduced a change in excise on petrol and diesel, again using the country's money to a value of €300 million. Overall, there are €1.9 billion of measures in response to an issue we appreciate is again a challenge for many at the moment.

The reality is that regardless of what measures I or the Government have introduced, they would not be enough for the Opposition. The Opposition would come to the House with the scripts already written and the tweets already drafted. Regardless of what the Government did, it would not be enough; because it is never enough for an opposition that will always look to change the goalposts on any argument. Whatever measure the Government brings forward will always be condemned by Sinn Féin and other Members of the Opposition as not being enough.

In response to Deputy Seán Crowe's statement that the Government had indicated that it had done enough, the Government has always been clear that we want to help and to make a difference, but we want to be honest about the constraints we face. We want to be honest that the only money we have that is available to spend, in dealing with this growing challenge, is the country's money. It is the taxes we collect that also pay for public services that already face challenges that we want to deal with, of which the Opposition is frequently critical, and where we want to make a difference and improve as we move through this year and beyond.

Deputy Ellis talked about the cold houses that we know are getting more expensive to heat for too many at the moment. That is why the Government is going ahead with the national retrofitting programme, which is being co-funded by the carbon tax, the same carbon tax the Opposition wants to get rid of and axe. On the one hand, the Opposition says we are not making enough progress on retrofitting, while at the same time it wants to abolish the tax that helps to pay for the retrofitting programme.

I heard the charge from Deputies Paul Murphy, Mattie McGrath and O'Donoghue that the Government is the cause of the price increases that are happening due to the changes in carbon taxation. Let us be absolutely clear about the truth here: the changes in carbon taxation that the Government has made are a tiny share of the increased costs that we know many face at the pumps, on their bills, in their homes due to the rising cost of energy. The changes that we have made to the carbon tax are a small share of the overall cost that many are facing and enduring at the moment, but the additional money that we have raised in carbon tax is the same money that is then being used to make progress on the issues the Opposition always call for more to be done to address.

That leads me to the Sinn Féin motion before the House this evening, which calls on the Government to take many additional measures in response to the challenge we now face. I put it to Sinn Féin that the motion this evening talks about the reduction in VAT. Today on Leaders' Questions, the party's leader called for the abolition of VAT. Which is it – abolition or reduction? It is one thing to be confronted by an Opposition party that engages in auction politics; it is an entirely different thing to be confronted by an Opposition party that managed to outbid itself in a single day. That is what we face. The motion talks about reduction and the party's leader talks about abolition. Which one is it? I know the costs are going up for many at the moment, but the Government is doing all it can to help. We want to be honest about the constraints that we face. We could do with the same honesty from Sinn Féin.

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