Dáil debates
Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Financial Resolutions 2023 - Financial Resolution No. 1: Mineral Oil Tax
8:10 pm
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source
I move amendment No. 3:
In Schedule 2, inserted by paragraph (1), to delete all rows from the row dated 11 October 2023, down to and including the row dated 9 October 2024 and substitute the following:
11 October 2023 1 April 2024 1 May 2024 1 August 2024 9 October 2024
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. The allocation of time motion was taken without debate. Just to clarify, the reason we voted against the motion to extend time was because not only has the Government decided that the entire House would only have 45 minutes to discuss two financial resolutions, which is essentially the same length of time a single Minister used during the budget speeches earlier on, it also ensured that the Opposition would not even have the opportunity to put their amendments on the floor of the Dáil. Democracy, how are you?
All day, we have heard statements from the Government and pronouncements that it understands the cost-of-living pressures that are affecting families and workers across Ireland. Yet, the very first thing that will happen and the first effect that these workers and families will feel as a result of today's budget will be that fuel prices will increase after midnight.
A day after the budget with all the talk about the cost of living, the real impact on families and workers is that fuel prices will increase. This is at a time when fuel prices have already been increasing. They have been increasing for international reasons and because of market circumstances. They have also been increasing because, in September, the Government hiked the cost of petrol and diesel. If this resolution goes through for tomorrow, the Government will push ahead with another tax hike, pushing fuel prices even higher.
It shows how out of touch this Government is to the lived realities of so many people. Despite what the Minister, Deputy Ryan, might think, having a car in County Monaghan,for example, is not a luxury. It is not something that can be just discarded depending on the price or whatever else might be a factor. For so many of the people I represent their car is their only means of getting to work. For many families now, the car is the only means of getting their children to the school. This is because the Minister, once again, has overseen a catastrophe for many families in respect of school transport. When there is no accessible and affordable public transport option, as there is not for the vast majority of journeys that are taking place in counties like Monaghan, pushing up the price of fuel does nothing other than make the lives of people who are depending on their cars harder. That is the nonsensical approach this Government has taken. It is punishing people who have no other choice and the Government's intention with this resolution is to hike fuel taxes tomorrow, then hike them again in May and again next October.
Not being content with increasing the price of petrol and diesel on those occasions, from next year the Government actually also planning to increase the cost of home heating oil again. I remind the House that home heating oil is the source of heating for about a third of our population. In many rural areas, including my own constituency, it represents the heating system for about half of households. These people have no option but to use that form of heating because once again Government has made a complete hames of actually providing alternative options to those families.
The amendment Sinn Féin has put forward does two things. First, it would stop the further increases in the carbon tax tomorrow and next year, and second, it would slash home heating oil and taxes by more than 50%. It would reduce prices and support those households I referred to that rely on home heating oil. We know what the Minister will say because he has said it a million times before. He will try to pretend that these increases in carbon taxes have something to do with the environment. That is a disingenuous position for Government to take. If increasing the cost of fuel and home heating oil made people stop using them, then they would have done so if they could have over the past 12 months, given the inexorable rises they have witnessed. This is nothing to do with the environment and the Government has moved away from the suggestion that this is in any way a behavioural tax, because the evidence shows quite clearly that it is not. The Government has now changed tack and is saying that this funding is needed to pay for other environmental measures. This is also completely disingenuous because there are alternative ways, as we have shown in our alternative budget, to fund environmental and climate action measures that go way beyond what this Government has introduced and which would help those families who actually need it. Instead of people who are very wealthy getting huge grants to retrofit their homes and to purchase brand new cars, we would ensure those families who actually rely on solid fuel and home heating oil and on their cars would be given the incentives and the options to source alternatives.
I encourage the House to support this amendment to really give workers and families a break and to send a very clear message that we see the problems they face and that the Government is still missing the point entirely about the lived realities of so many of our workers and families.
No comments