Dáil debates

Wednesday, 6 April 2022

7:00 pm

Photo of Thomas GouldThomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We stand here today on the cusp of another increase in the carbon tax. It is a tax that is truly unfair and harsh. It penalises those who can afford it the least. The Government spends much time talking about the hard decisions on climate change but does not talk about the facts and figures that show ordinary people bear the largest burden when it comes to action on climate change.

The Government does not talk about how data centres take up 10% of the country's electricity and that is expected to rise to a whopping 70% by 2030. There are currently 70 operational data centres in the State, with Dublin having 25% of European data centres. They are not sources of employment. They are not bringing investment into communities. They do not bring people into local shops or groups in any way. They are a drain on electricity that is really needed at the moment.

When the Government talks about the carbon tax, should it not be aimed at big business, which uses the most energy, and not at struggling families who are only looking to survive. When I spoke to Deputy McDonald earlier, she made a point to me that many families are not surviving. They are going to moneylenders and credit unions and running up debts on their families.

Are we expected to take the energy that is required to hold all of Europe's data processing? That is the question the Minister has to answer. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party could send out a clear message to people. If the Government leads by changing behaviours, people will follow if they can.

The current application system for electric taxis is not operational at the moment, even though it was announced a few weeks ago. The NTA has informed me it is a technical issue. We could switch our entire taxi fleet to electric vehicles. Imagine the message that would send out and the emissions it would save if we were to do that. I encourage the Minister to act quickly, get that system up and running and let taxi drivers who want to move to electric avail of the grants. We cannot solve climate change in one fell swoop, but there are many positive measures on which we can work together, and we will work with the Government if those measures are sincere and true.

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