Peadar Tóibín: Government taxes are crushing families in energy crisis
Peadar Tóibín addresses the chamber to accuse the government of deepening the current energy crisis through heavy fuel and carbon taxation. He cites PQ figures showing €4.1 billion taken in fuel taxes in 2024 and urges an immediate reduction in carbon tax to relieve households, carers, businesses and farmers.
Claims about tax take
Peadar Tóibín presents Parliamentary Questions showing the government took €4.1 billion in fuel taxes in 2024 and says carbon taxes have reached around €1 billion. He warns that planned carbon tax increases on May 1 will add further strain on families already struggling.
Impact on people and businesses
Tóibín details how families, carers, small businesses and farmers are affected: 320,000 were in energy arrears before recent global events, carers cannot travel to care for older people, and farmers face spiking costs while produce prices fall. He highlights that Irish electricity prices were among the highest in Europe even before the war in Iran accelerated hardship.
Government responsibility and recent collections
He accuses the government of 'tax gouging' and points out that the State has collected an additional €120 million in extra taxes in the last four weeks and expects roughly €160 million from the rest of the year’s carbon tax increases. Tóibín argues the government is 'quids in' while households suffer.
Demand for policy change
Tóibín concludes by demanding an immediate cut to carbon taxes: he says the government must act now to allow people to live, reduce pressure on carers, keep small businesses afloat and help farmers facing rising costs. This address frames tax policy as central to the national response to the energy crisis.
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Go raibh míle maith agat, Gaithaois Comhairle, Comhairle, Minister, families are being crushed by this energy crisis, small businesses are going to the wall, carers cannot drive to mind the older people that they're looking after, workers can't fill their car tanks just even to get to work and farmers costs are spiking at a time when their produce price are falling and at the heart of this particular crisis is government taxes and no other political party is calling this out. For sure the war in Iran has significantly accelerated the hardship but the government were taking 60 to 65 percent out of petrol and diesel even before the war. There were 320,000 people in energy arrears in this country even before the war and Irish electricity prices were the highest in Europe even before the war and behind all the mealy-mouthed words from the government today the painful reality for people in this country is the government is going to keep tax gouging families. Our PQs have shown that the government took 4.1 billion euros in fuel taxes in 2024. Carbon taxes are at a record level at the moment topping out at 1 billion euros and even today your plans are to raise carbon tax on the 1st of May. That's a savagely damaging policy against the people of Ireland and in this crisis the government has collected already a hundred and twenty million euros in extra taxes in the last four weeks. You're quids in in terms of the crisis so far and your increase in carbon taxes for the rest of the year will bring in a hundred and sixty million euros. Those two together are more than a hundred and thirty five million euros that you're spending in relation to this. We're asking you to reduce the carbon taxes now and let people live. you
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