Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak again in opposition to the carbon tax and the turf ban. It is truly hard to fathom why the Government remains so wedded to this idea. We were told originally that this tax was a revenue-raising measure and intended to provide an incentive for people to move away from fossil fuels but incentives only work where alternatives are in place. This argument has been dropped since energy costs began to spiral. We are now told that revenue is needed for environmental measures. People across the State and in rural Ireland know we must tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. They have played, and will continue to play, their parts. Our approach needs to be fair, equitable and capable of delivering the change we need. To tax petrol when people have no alternative transport and to tax home heating oil when it is the only option for many people is absolutely not the answer.

This Government is out of touch with what is happening in rural Ireland and Government Deputies know that to be the case. That is why they are racing around Mayo and telling people they do not believe in the carbon tax increase. Those Deputies are either in government or not. They have an opportunity to vote against this tax. What they are doing to people in rural Ireland is outrageous and they need to stop. It is not that people in rural Ireland do not play their part in climate action. In fact, since 1997 and even before that, people in rural Ireland have more than played their part. They do it in designations. They were promised compensation by Government after Government but never got it. They do not trust Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or the Green Party. The idea that the Green Party made the Government take these steps does not wash in rural Ireland any more. The Government needs to be called out and I am doing that. Government Deputies must show which side they are on. They are either in government or not.

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