John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with a lot of what Senator Dooley said. He referenced the concept of the average punter. I talk about that a lot in this House. What does the average man or woman on the streets of provincial towns like my town, Dundalk, want to be able to do? We all realise there is a climate crisis and everyone wants to be able to play his or her part, but it is about making it financially viable and easy for people to play their part in moving towards sustainability and dealing with the impact of the climate crisis. That is what we are doing through legislation such as we have.

Carbon budgets are the vehicle we will use to hit our sectoral targets by 2030 and 2050. They allow people across Irish society, including those involved in business, agriculture or whatever else, to be able to see the level of sectoral emissions they have to get to in order to get to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy. The same applies to carbon tax.

I sometimes try to think of an analogy, and the one I thought of throughout the week is that it is the equivalent of being in a burning house. The fire brigade comes along to put out the fire, but people tell it there is no need to spray water on the burning house because the fire will go out itself. That is the concept I think of when people say they want to defer the carbon tax, do not want to have a carbon tax at all, are not so sure about sectoral emissions or want to do this or that. The reason we are introducing all of these climate measures across society is to avoid a climate collapse, not today or tomorrow, but for our children, grandchildren and future generations. That is the overarching aspect of this.

It is a debate that is happening in our party at the moment. Some people want to defer the carbon tax, something with which I fundamentally disagree because I believe the money that is raised from a carbon tax goes back into society to help people with the climate crisis. Some 30% of it is going towards social protection, which will increase the fuel allowance by €5. It will also increase the living at home allowance, qualified child payments and the threshold for the working family payment by €10. That is what the carbon tax is going to do when we talk about social protection.

Some 15% of the carbon tax will go towards agriculture. That will include paying people involved in agriculture to help them with schemes to re-wet bogs and replant land. It will provide financial assistance for farmers to engage in more sustainable farming practices. At the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action today we discussed retrofitting. Some 55% of the carbon tax will go towards retrofitting, which will provide 100% free energy upgrades to those most at risk of fuel poverty. Those on the lowest incomes in our society will have 100% free energy upgrades. Those who are eligible will have an 80% upgrade. Those who want a full and deep retrofit will be able to avail of a 50% loan. The other 50% will be paid by low-cost loans where the finance is de-risked because the Government is going to put up State money. People will be able to get loans at interest rates of 2% or 3% over ten, 15 or 20 years. That is the benefit of the carbon tax or setting carbon budgets. They get us to where we have to be.

It is not just about providing financial aid to people or getting people into warmer homes so their health can improve and they can save energy. The main reason we are doing all of this is to avoid a climate catastrophe and climate collapse. I would be very reluctant to see a debate on carbon budgets or the carbon tax become a political football year in and year out. For the six years I sat on Louth County Council, I saw the property tax become a political football each year when we discussed whether to increase or decrease it, or keep it the same. The reluctance of politicians to make hard decisions meant property tax in Louth County Council stayed the same for six years and then we did not have money to help people with housing maintenance or upgrade sections of road throughout our county.

I am against playing political football. I am not saying that anybody else is playing political football. I want to be clear about that. I am, however, very against the concept of politicising something as important as carbon tax or carbon budgets when it is the safety of future generations and the very world that is at stake.