David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House with which he is familiar and to which he is a frequent visitor. I also welcome elements of this Bill, in particular those dealing with carbon emissions. This is a constructive environmental approach. However, I would like to raise a few issues.

I refer to the fact that a substantial amount of this money will transfer to local authorities. It may well be that they need it but why we are paying a property tax? How many times will we be taxed in the same way for the same purpose? We are supposed to be given delivery of services and that is alleged to be the reason for the property tax, apart from the fact that we had our arm screwed out of its socket by the ECB, IMF and all the other gangsters. Bin collections have been privatised and something peculiar will be done with water services. What services are we getting, given we are paying for them through road tax, as I said during the discussion on the property tax? How many times can we be bled for the same purpose? There is an element of chicanery in this that I do not like.

There is then the question of the polluter pays principle. That is implemented to a certain extent in the carbon emissions elements of legislation but not through the tax code. When Mr. Gormley was Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, he agreed with me when I made the point clearly to him that the appropriate thing to do if one is serious about pollution is to put the tax on petrol because then users pay directly proportionate to the amount of pollution they emit.

Senator Landy mentioned the issue of big cars out in the car park and he said people who had big cars could afford them. There may be an element of truth in that but I would put that in the context of the Minister's statement about all older cars being replaced by cars taxed on carbon emissions. Why should it be an ambition to remove older cars? That sounds like a version of Government supported planned obsolescence. I say this with particular feeling because one of the largest cars in the car park is mine.