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I will deal with amendment No. 3 in the first few moments of my contribution and I will then, as part of the group discussion, deal with the Opposition amendments from Deputy Doherty. Amendment No. 3 provides the necessary legislative basis for the changes approved by the Dáil under the financial resolution of 27 April. This extends and enhances the excise reduction brought forward on Committee Stage of the Bill. The background to this amendment is that the Government brought a financial resolution to the Dáil providing for excise duty decreases on mineral oil taxes with effect from 10 March. This provides for a 20 cent reduction in the excise rate for petrol and a 15 cent reduction in auto diesel, with a proportionate 2 cent reduction in the excise for marked gas or green diesel, as it is commonly known. These measures were VAT-inclusive and are set to last until 31 August 2022. This was estimated to cost €320 million. These reductions were then provided for on Committee Stage of this Bill.

The purpose of these Report Stage amendments is to extend the excise duty decreases until 11 October 2022. When this Bill was originally brought before the Dáil, it was intended that these measures would last until 31 August. This amendment is to extend the duty decreases until budget day on 11 October 2022. We are extending the period during which the reduction will be applied. Those reductions were discussed on Second and Committee Stages. This is the Report Stage amendment.

It also provides for a further reduction in the mineral oil tax rate on marked gas oil, which amounts to a VAT inclusive reduction of 3 cent effective from 1 May until 11 October. This has already been done on a temporary basis by a financial resolution moved last week. The Report Stage amendment is to provide for these changes in this Bill. The excise reduction extension and the further reduction in the rate applied to marked gas oil will cost an estimated €97 million, that is, €80 million for the extension and €17 million for the marked gas oil. We have had many debates in the House in recent weeks about the ongoing energy price crisis and I have said before that it is not possible to offset all of the recent increases by just using the taxation system. However, the Government is committed to doing what it can to provide significant mitigation against recent price fuel increases. The extension of these excise reductions until budget day provides certainty to citizens and strikes a balance between passing on a significant benefit to consumers, managing the tax base and respecting the minimum rates allowable under the energy tax directive from the EU. I commend this amendment to the House.

Deputy Doherty has submitted amendments Nos. 4 to 7, inclusive, which are grouped for discussion with amendment No. 3. I will now deal with those Sinn Féin amendments. The Deputy's amendments propose various further rate reductions from 1 May until budget day. He seeks to reduce mineral oil tax rates on petrol and diesel to the minimum rates as prescribed in the energy tax directive and to further reduce the rate on marked gas oil by 2 cent. The amendment also seeks to remove the carbon component of kerosene, reducing the overall rate of tax to zero. The proposal is to remove the carbon tax component on kerosene, thereby reducing the rate to zero. That is the essence of the amendments.

The proposed mineral oil tax for diesel would not be compliant with the minimum rate set out in the energy tax directive at EU level. The combined effect of the measures the Government has already provided means that the current mineral oil tax rate for diesel, in addition to the diesel rebate scheme, is effectively at the minimum level allowable under the energy tax directive. Any further excise reduction, as the Deputy is proposing, would bring the effective rate below the minimum permissible rate. To apply a mineral oil tax rate of 33 cent per litre would mean the Government would have to scrap the diesel rebate scheme, which is a targeted support for hauliers and public transport operators. The mineral oil tax on kerosene for home heating has a non-carbon component rate of zero. The carbon component is currently €103.83 per 1,000 l. In other words, there is only carbon tax on kerosene. The Deputy proposes removing completely the carbon tax element, thus reducing mineral oil tax to zero.

Similarly, the reductions the Government is providing for the rate of mineral oil tax on marked has oil means that the non-carbon component is now zero until 12 October. As there will only be carbon tax on this fuel, the further reductions on mineral oil tax proposed by the Deputy would also involve reducing the carbon component of this fuel.

Deputies will be aware that the 2020 programme for Government committed to increasing the amount that is charged per tonne of CO2 emissions from fuel to €100 by 2030. The Government has followed through on this commitment by introducing legislation in the Finance Act 2020 to provide for a ten-year trajectory of carbon tax increases to reach €100 per tonne of CO2 by 2030. This measure is a key pillar underpinning the Government's climate action plan to halve emissions by 2030 and reach net zero no later than 2050.

A key further component of the Government's carbon taxation policy is the hypothecation of revenues, an issue the Deputy has raised before. It is important to say that when revenues come in, we know we have a carbon budget and when we get funds from carbon, we are in a position to allocate it to various purposes to assist people in fuel poverty and take various other measures. Without that tax, there would be a difficulty in funding the various other measures about which we are talking. It is important to note that a significant proportion of carbon tax revenue is allocated for expenditure on targeted welfare measures and energy efficiency measures which not only support the most vulnerable households in society but also, in the long term, provide support against fuel price impacts by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. The fuel allowance does not cover all the fuel needs of those availing of it and it never has. It nonetheless provides a significant reduction on the cost of fuel. People availing of the fuel allowance are receiving more than €1,000. As I mentioned earlier, there have been reductions in the cost of school transport. There is also funding available for the various agri-environment schemes and for the retrofit schemes. All those schemes have to be funded from somewhere and carbon tax is an element of that. It is important that we are consistent. If we want to pay for these schemes and reduce our carbon emissions, we should link those two elements. For those reasons, I cannot accept the Deputy's amendments.

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