Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Excise duties, in the form of Mineral Oil Tax, Natural Gas Carbon Tax and Solid Fuel Carbon Tax, apply to liquid, gaseous and solid fuels in the State. Mineral Oil Tax comprises a carbon and a non-carbon component whereas Natural Gas Carbon Tax and Solid Fuel Carbon Tax do not have any non-carbon component.

I am advised by Revenue that the receipts collected in respect of these excise duties in each of the past ten years up to 2022 are published on the Revenue website.

The provisional fuel excise duty receipts in the year to August 2023 are contained in the following table.

Revenue raised from the non carbon component of mineral oil tax goes to the central exchequer and is used to fund essential public services such as education, health, policing and social protection.

The carbon component is commonly referred to as carbon tax.The 2020 Programme for Government committed to increasing the amount that is charged per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions from fuels to €100 by 2030. Government followed through on this commitment by introducing the necessary legislation in Finance Act 2020 to provide for this 10-year trajectory. This measure is a key pillar underpinning the Government’s Climate Action Plan to halve emissions by 2030 and reach net zero no later than 2050.

A significant portion of carbon tax revenue is allocated for expenditure on targeted welfare measures and energy efficiency measures, which not only support the most vulnerable households in society but also in the long term, provides support against fuel price impacts by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.

In 2023, the additional revenue allocated for expenditure was €623m. This was comprised of the additional revenue made available in 2022 (€174m), 2021 (€148m), 2020 (€90m) and an additional €211m in 2023.

€291 million of this revenue was allocated to residential and community energy efficiency in 2023. This funding permitted the continuation of a range of expanded supports for energy efficiency.

€81m of revenue was provided to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to fund the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES). The purpose of this scheme is to support farmers undertaking environmentally sustainable farming practices.

€218m was allocated to targeted social protection measures which provided for increases in the fuel allowance, the living alone allowance, and the qualified child payment. Analysis conducted in support of Budget 2023 has found that households in the bottom five income deciles are better off as a result of the increased spending on social protection made possible by the increases to the carbon tax. So, the lowest income half of all households in Ireland are net beneficiaries from this increase in the carbon tax. The remaining revenues (€33m) were allocated to fund the continuation of the 2020 - 2022 Carbon Tax Investment Programme.