Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I take the point the Senator is making and it is the same formula of an amendment that we have had previously. People, however, can detect and see for themselves with the level of reporting of this carbon tax, that it is going to be fully scrutinised and that there will not be any shortage of debate, discussion and reports on this issue. As I have already said, the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, gave an absolute commitment on budget day that he is looking at ways to give a legislative basis for ring-fencing the carbon tax funds for future years. He can only do that on the basis of information. I am quite satisfied, and it is made clear in the programme for Government on these taxes, that we set the rate for the increase of carbon taxes for a period here. We have not done that with the mitigating measures to help people who may be subject to fuel poverty. The Minister has given a commitment and he will have a legislative basis for the ring-fencing of the carbon tax funds in future budgets, which will include retrofitting, transport and a variety of areas. It will also include agriculture, people who are working but must travel to work, people on low incomes and people in receipt of social protection payments. There are umpteen commitments from the Government to revisit and to have a full debate on this several times during the course of this coming year, and well in advance of next year's budget. We will not get to next year's budget unless we have this done. It is an essential element which everybody in government is committed to doing. It is guaranteed to happen on a structured basis but not, perhaps, through the method proposed by the Senator in his amendment.