Pearse Doherty: Government to Hike Fuel and Carbon Taxes

Go raibh maith agat a gheasgain comhairle agus dios lóthair ar an bide aseo. The bill before us today is a legislation that follows on from the financial resolutions that were passed through these houses that came into effect in March and again in April in relation to the the fuel crisis and section 1 as the minister states relates to the increase in the diesel rebate scheme and I've raised this issue on many occasions minister with you and with your senior minister in terms of the the fact that many hauliers have issues accessing the scheme on top of that as the Tánaiste accepted when I put it to him previously even the people that can access the scheme face severe cash flow issues as they have to wait up to three months before they can get the rebate and despite the acceptance of this fact and this genuine issue that hauliers were facing we still see no action here to address it. Sinn Féin argued as you know in this house over and over again for a different approach completely because of how the EU energy directive is designed when you actually increase the diesel rebate scheme what you do is you reduce the space for government to actually reduce excise for the wider general public but there is a way that both can actually benefit the wider public and hauliers and transport operators at the same time if you made the cut directly at the pump hauliers get the benefit and they get the benefit immediately they don't have to wait the three months as well as everybody else every commuter every person who fills up their car with petrol or diesel and it avoids the cash flow issues as he said that the rebate scheme has ingrained in it. Section 2 of the bill is probably the most substantive part of this legislation it contains both excise cuts on fuels like petrol and diesel and the postponement of carbon taxes on home heating oil green diesel and canister gas until October this year. The excise cuts should have gone further on petrol and diesel and green diesel we know that people are still spending over a hundred euro to fill their tank if you live in rural Ireland have a long commuter drive as part of your work you're getting crucified by those prices over and over again and we've heard from carers we've heard from home help workers we've heard from ordinary people that just simply can't afford to put fuel in their car and at the same time this government you know prioritise other areas he's cut private jet fuel by 17 cent you couldn't make some of this up while struggling to actually reduce a home heating oil for example by a single cent. The second component of this section is that carbon tax is being postponed until the autumn. That was one of the most frustrating elements of the government's response to the crisis. The Taoiseach Michael Martin specifically ruled out over and over again taking this basic step at a time of huge pressure huge crisis he stood and proudly said that he and his government were going to put on taxes on people in the middle of this crisis. His immediate reaction to the fuel crisis was to dig his heels in to refuse to consider postponing a carbon tax increase. Think of that from the perspective of someone who was sitting at home with an empty tank in a cold house. They have just seen the price of home heating oil almost double and the Taoiseach was not only refusing and he still refuses to cut a single cent of excise duty off home heating oil but his reaction was also to keep heating more tax, more pressure on that same family. It's no wonder that anger boiled over and by God anger did boil over. Section 3 does the same but for the carbon tax on natural gas. Now there's no access to natural gas in Donegal like the rail network, like the motorway network. My constituency is cut off from the gas network but for many people right across the state heating their homes and water with gas has become completely unaffordable. One in four households are unable to pay their gas bills. That's a shocking, shocking indictment of government failure. One in four households cannot pay their gas bills and that doesn't even count all the people on pay-as-you-go meters or all the people that are working every hour that God sends them just managing to keep their head above water. Section 4 is the postponement of carbon tax and solid fuels such as coal and briquettes and turf and these are fuels that heat the homes of our coldest homes in the country. It is what people turn to when they can't afford a refill of oil and the government's now proposing to lump on more tax on home heating oil, coal and natural gas in October. When the days are getting shorter, when the days are far colder, the response of this government is going to be let's push up taxes on home heating oil, on coal and a natural gas and you couldn't really make this up. This legislation also commits or recommits to increase carbon tax every single year till 2030. You know something, the government have nowhere in legislation where it will say that it will improve the health care outcomes for people till 2030. Every year make an investment. They don't say the same thing in relation to taxes in terms of being able to keep more money in your pocket but by God when it comes to carbon tax this government is not found wanting. They have no problem saying not only are we going to increase it in October, we're going to do the same to you as next October in 27. We're going to do the same to you in 28 again. We're going to do the same to you in 29 again. We're going to do the same to you in 2030 again because this government knows one thing about the future and that is that they're going to put additional pressure on ordinary people and it is striking that what we're talking about here is additional taxes on people. Some of those who are struggling already to meet their needs. Sinn Féin opposes increasing carbon taxes. They are unfair and they do nothing for a climate or environment where the alternatives are not existing or are affordable. It is a tax on people just trying to heat their homes and to get from A to B and the kicker is that the more the government fails in delivering affordable green electricity, public transport, the more they collect on carbon tax because people have no option. It is a regressive tax, plain and simple. And we are in the middle of a cost-of-living challenge here for so many people. People are getting hammered by cost. Then this started long, long before any attacks on Iran that sent the energy markets into chaos. It's been unrelenting for years. Real wages have stagnated as prices continued to go up and up and that was the reality of people up and down this country when the price of fuel spiked in early March, when ministers were more concerned with their trips on Paddy's Day than actually taking action to protect the Irish people. It was sustained pressure from Sinn Féin including legislation that I brought before this house on the 10th of March that dragged this government into acting. It took three and a half weeks of them of mounting pressure on this government to force them to finally do something and not only was it late coming but their initial response was a disgrace. It barely scratched the surface of what was needed. It was the catalyst that drove people onto their streets and there are thousands in the fuel protests and you only have to look at it through the eyes of those at the sharpest end. Farmers and farm contractors were watching the price of green diesel almost doubling and the government's response what was it? Well we'll cut the cost by three cent. Three cent when the price went up from what 90 to 160 and three cent was the response of the government after it increased by 80. People were gobsmacked and that anger began to build as the reality bit home. Businesses were going to go under, jobs were on the line and this government didn't seem to care and that is what the three cent cut and the price of green diesel meant to so many. That message went out loud and clear and you that you were on your own. That was a message from this government and that the message demanded a response and by God did this government to get that response in the form of the fuel protests. All the disruption, all the tension, all the loss of income, it could all have been avoided if government had listened. Instead the government decided to threaten the protesters, to stoke up tensions further and the protests might have been spearheaded by farmers, by farm contractors and hauliers but their demands were much broader than just their own sector. That is why they garnered support right across Irish society despite this disruption that comes along with protests. They want direct cuts of the pumps that would help everyone, everyone. They called for ex-age duty cuts to home heat and oil. That is why and how protests tapped into the wider anger of the cost of living crisis, an anger that comes from it feeling like it's just one thing after another. So when we're talking about fuel costs it is part of a wider picture and right now there are many homes that have not had home heat and oil since March and people are still feeling that they're getting absolutely hammered by the cost of petrol and diesel and green diesel is far too expensive at the pumps and that is where Minister we are at right now. So government can pat themselves all on the back all they like but that anger hasn't gone away and the problem here is this legislation that you bring forward today this finance bill here will be enacted next month in July and at the end of that month what is going to happen according to this finance bill that you're asking us to vote for you are saying that you're going to put up the price of diesel by 32 cent and put up the price of petrol by 27 cent. What planet are you living on? People need support and the idea that this house will be in recess that the ministers will be on holiday and that these prices will go up on the 1st of August is simply not acceptable. Now nobody can predict what certainty oil prices in the future but the public deserve to know that there's a plan in place and the houses of the Rockies will need to pass legislation to allow for an extension. These houses are set to rise for the summer in mid-July that leaves the government at just a matter of weeks to bring forward any financial motions that are needed. Despite that looming cliff edge everyone is being left in the dark and if prices stay at the current level then there needs to be an extension because the prices cannot be allowed to go up by 32 cent as is in this legislation. The simple question is what is the government's answer to this because they have been mute on this issue too so far. If that decision has not been made then the government should at the very least be able to tell the people then when the decision will be made. Minister I just want to finish on one other issue which is a cost of living issue also. People shopping online are about to be hit with additional three euro charge per item and a parcel that they buy outside of the European Union including from Britain as new EU custom rules comes into effect next month on the 1st of July and that means that there's many people at home here that simply do not know what they are about to be hit with. It is shoppers beware is the message here. It means that somebody that buys three products for example from Amazon in Britain or from a retail store online from Britain for example somebody who buys a pen, a notebook or a keyring will have to pay now an additional nine euro on customs including then VAT on top of that nine euro. At a time when people are under serious pressure from the cost of living the last thing that is needed is another unexpected charge and Ireland is uniquely exposed because of online shopping and how it is integrated with Britain. For many households buying everyday items online has become a normal part of their life and the concerns that were raised this week by Anpast and others cannot be ignored. If these changes are going to result in additional costs, delays and disruption for people then the government needs to act. Nobody argues against the need to ensure that products entered in the EU meet proper standards but let's be clear these measures were intended to tackle high-volume low-quality imports not to leave ordinary people facing extra charges every time that they shop online so the government should be pressing for these changes to be stopped and reworked to ensure people are protected. We need to see leadership now Minister because people cannot be left paying the price for these new rules. It will cause chaos, the fraudster will have a field day but more importantly people are going to be out serious amount of money in their pockets as a result of this.