Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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219. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to increase and hypothecate all additional carbon tax revenue as outlined in the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14616/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As stated in the Programme for Government, it is the Government’s intention to increase the carbon tax to 100 euro per tonne by 2030. This increase is to be achieved by an annual increase of €7.50 per annum to 2029 and €6.50 in 2030.

The Programme for Government also plans to legislate for the hypothecation of all additional carbon tax revenue into a Climate Action Fund, raising an estimated €9.5 billion over the next ten years. This Fund will be utilised over that period to:

1. Ensure that the increases in the carbon tax are progressive by spending €3 billion on targeted social welfare and other initiatives to prevent fuel poverty and ensure a just transition

2. Provide €5 billion to part fund a socially progressive national retrofitting programme targeting all homes but with a particular emphasis on the Midlands region and on social and low-income tenancies.

3. Allocate €1.5 billion to a REPS-2 (Rural Environment Protection Scheme) programme to encourage and incentivise farmers to farm in a greener and more sustainable way. This funding will be additional to funding from the Common Agriculture Policy. It will include incentives to plant native forestry and to enhance and support biodiversity.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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220. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to introduce a set of well-being indices to create a well-rounded holistic view of the way in which society here is faring as outlined in the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14617/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Well-being is a multidimensional concept which spans economic, social, health, and environmental concerns, amongst others. One of the responsibilities of Government entails monitoring and improving the living standards, or well-being, of the Irish people through a variety of channels.

The limitations of standard economic statistics such as GDP in reflecting the welfare of citizens have been recognised. Indeed in Ireland alternative economic statistics more reflective of the domestic economic situation and how it affects the income of residents have been developed and are published regularly by the CSO. These statistics, such as Modified Gross National Income (GNI*), are forefront in the macroeconomic analysis performed by my Department, and the set of indicators we monitor has been continually expanding.

In addition, policies are currently evaluated in terms of their impacts on the environment, on distributional outcomes, and on gender inequality. Similar factors compose a significant fraction of the well-being metrics of other countries. Through initiatives such as Equality Budgeting and Green Budgeting, the government is working towards making the well-being analysis involved in policy-making more explicit and transparent.

The Programme for Government commits to the development of a cohesive and comprehensive set of well-being measures, and my Department will provide input and support to this process.

As the development of new and better measurements of Irish living standards goes forward, we will continue to monitor and analyse those factors relevant for the well-being of the Irish people and to account for those factors in our decision-making.