Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Carbon tax is part of Ireland's overall decarbonisation policy. Nobody likes a tax, but we cannot on the one hand support all the climate change measures and on the other oppose the inclusion of carbon tax as part of that programme. While the financing side of it is always the hard bit, people agree with the principle. We cannot implement our principles unless we raise the revenue to do so.

In the context of the increases in consumer prices in recent months, in February the Government approved a package of measures to the value of €505 million, including an energy credit of €200 including VAT, to mitigate the impact of increases in the cost of living. The key drivers of these inflationary pressures are as a result of global energy supplies. Everybody will be aware that the packages announced in the budget earlier this year, and this week, add up to approximately €2 billion in total. These are compensatory measures for the increases that are coming through relating to carbon tax, which will be fully offset by the various measures the Government has introduced.

See this speech in context