Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would echo a lot of what Senator MacSharry has said. We have actually called for a debate on poverty in this House on a number of occasions but have yet to have that debate. People are experiencing levels of poverty in Ireland that have not been seen before. Poverty is affecting householders who have never previously found themselves unable to pay for the very basics, such as heating. Certainly, while one might argue that cigarettes and alcohol are optional, heating one's house is not an optional extra. We have seen instances of people dying in freezing cold houses in recent years in this State. We know that people are living in very cold conditions and are finding it very difficult to cope. Adding extra taxation to coal, peat briquettes and other solid fuels is not the way to go and the Government should be ashamed of itself for bringing in this particular measure. It will particularly affect lower and middle income households. I attended a meeting in Galway on Friday last about burglaries and the rate of household fuel theft is going through the roof at the moment. Ruthless villains are actually drilling into people's oil tanks and stealing their fuel. That is indicative of how difficult the situation is for families out there.

One cannot consider this measure in isolation but in combination with the other costs that have been introduced such as the property tax and so forth. As a result, people are really struggling. This is a measure which my party cannot support in any way. It is very detrimental. I know the Minister of State read the Sinn Féin pre-budget submission in great detail, for which I thank him. There were other options available to this Government to raise money. The Government could have gone after the money that wealthy individuals and companies in this State have but it chose not to do so. It has, yet again, gone after the people who are already carrying too much of the burden. This measure is a step too far and I call on the Minister for Finance, even at this late stage, to rethink it.