Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Essentially these amendments do not involve the carbon tax. We are talking here about the excise duty on petrol and diesel. The Government has agreed that it will extend the period to March next year and have another phased increase in August, to the best of my recollection. We are proposing that the Government should go further.

It has acknowledged the reason for postponing this planned increase is because people are hurting due to the cost-of-living crisis and the difficulties households are facing. We have no idea at this point what the position will be in regard to the Middle East. We have seen the awful conflagration in Gaza and Israel this week. That inevitably will have a significant impact on crude oil prices. That naturally will have a knock-on effect on petrol and diesel. The prudent thing would be to accept the Labour Party's amendment to further postpone any consideration of this issue until 9 October next year, which is likely to be budget date. That is a date identified in regard to another potential increase in that space. Building on the Minister's own logic we ask that as households in this country are going through a difficult, challenging time, as we cannot anticipate what will happen in the Middle East over the coming time but we know there will be a knock-on effect on fuel prices, the best the Minister can do is to insulate families and households throughout the country by accepting the Labour Party amendment. Now that I am on my feet, we accept his proposition in regard to the extension of the reduced rate of VAT on energy bills. It would be useful if the Minister would advise the House this evening precisely what the windfall taxes on energy companies will be deployed to do. Written replies to parliamentary questions received by me from the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, and discussions at the Committee on Budgetary Oversight meeting two weeks ago indicated that the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, is handling the issue of resources off balance sheet. We were told that the CRU would be managing this and would then get involved in the process of seeking to reduce people's energy bills with the resources that were obtained from the windfall tax. Precisely how will that work? Given that the Minister, Deputy Ryan, is the Minister responsible for the CRU, it would be useful were he to put that on the record.

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