Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

They will start kidnapping hens in California yet at the price of an egg. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this debate to the House tonight but I have to say that Sinn Féin and all the other people gladly voted for the carbon tax. Many of them said at the time that the tax was not enough. I remember distinctly Sinn Féin Deputies saying that we were not going far enough fast enough. I remember that and I do remember things.

The Rural Independent Group firmly believes in and has always advocated for a desperately needed carbon tax exemption for farmers. Such a move would be welcome news for farmers, who are subject to price-taking economics, but it would also give hard-pressed groceries consumers a financial break via lower food prices. Taxing farmers more can only cost them more but there is also a cost to the end user or consumer. In essence, the Government should urgently consider helping businesses that are part of our agrifood ecosystem and abolishing the carbon tax would be a start.

Food processors, small shops and restaurant owners need more and better supports. By 2030, the carbon tax will have the potential to become much more significant driver of food inflation than climate change itself. That is a fact. The policy of penalising polluters could hurt citizens more than climate change, which is the very thing we are trying to mitigate.

I neglected to say at the start that I have been operating a small shop at the side of the road for many years. I want to say something about the larger conglomerates - the mighty people who are having their price war over the price of butter and milk. I would call it a phony war because what they are trying to do is give the consumer the impression that because they are big multinationals, they have cheap produce in their shops. They are doing the consumer or the farmer no favours. All they are trying to do is line their own pockets by drawing more people in and confusing them with their false promise of reduced prices. I remember when I along with Deputy Mattie McGrath and others left here one day and bought trolley loads of vegetables. We came out of a shop down below here, went out on to the street and gave away the vegetables because the shops at the time were selling them so cheaply but it was a phony war. What did that do at the time? It hurt our producers of vegetables in the same way they are hurting the dairy men. This is wrong and we should not allow it to happen.

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