Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Carbon taxes are an essential part of a credible plan to tackle climate change. That is a simple fact. Therefore, we will never agree with Sinn Féin’s opposition to carbon taxes. They are essential to both changing behaviour and funding a fair and inclusive transition to a sustainable economic and environmental model. This policy is the shared view of this Government and, just as importantly, it is critical to meeting the historic challenge of limiting climate change. As we agreed in the programme for Government, every cent raised by the carbon tax is going directly to support people in fuel poverty, investing in energy efficiency, helping workers and communities impacted by the transition, and developing a new industry in this field. In light of the scale of the pressure on fuel prices, we have acted to offset the impact of changes at the pump, but we must not and we will not back off from the core climate change agenda of this Government.

This budget should help to lay to rest once and for all the false idea that tackling climate change is a threat to our rural economy. In fact, it is quite the opposite. More than any other sector, farming is hit by the extreme weather events that are occurring ever more frequently. More importantly, farmers and the rural economy in general stand to benefit directly from cheaper sustainable energy and high-quality food sectors. Let me be clear that we will continue to do whatever it takes to ensure we have a vibrant and successful rural economy while also urgently tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis.

In excess of €80 million in carbon tax funding is going directly to farmers next year. This will be used to fund the new agri-climate rural environment scheme we have set out in our Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, strategic plan. This will support up to 50,000 farmers who undertake actions that will support improved outcomes on biodiversity, climate, air and water quality. Because of the continued impact of Brexit on the agrifood sector, there will also be more than €280 million allocated to the sector. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, has set out an ambitious and urgent plan of action which will continue for as long as is necessary. That shows a real and sustained commitment to farming, agrifood businesses and rural Ireland in general.

Central to our programme for Government is an agreed priority to invest in developing our public services and investment programmes. For the third budget in a row, our public services will see significant developments, and the largest programme of capital development in our history will be funded.

Delivering affordable housing and social housing for all takes sustained action across all sectors and across a series of years. Every honest person accepts that making progress on housing takes time, and the facts show our Housing for All policy is beginning to have a significant impact. The way to make housing affordable is for there to be more housing, to train more people to build and refurbish houses, to remove major delays to housing projects and to help buyers and renters at key moments.

Yesterday, the Dáil heard speech after speech attacking us on housing, claiming we are in the pockets of various groups and that we are committed to a right-wing ideology. This is absolute nonsense. Because of this Government, the State is now by far the biggest actor in housing construction. We are directly intervening to ensure affordability and we have begun a radical new era of building social housing.

Next year, €4.5 billion will be spend on building and refurbishing homes, which is by some distance the largest programme of social and affordable housing in Irish history. The highest level of housing commencements since records began was recorded over the 12 months to May. Last year saw the highest number of first-time buyers in a decade and a half, with our help to buy scheme and other measures starting to have an impact.

In this budget, we introduced a range of measures to support people directly, including a €1,000 per person aid for renters over the next 12 months. There is no area where Sinn Féin is more callously cynical than in housing.

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