Gillian Toole addresses the cost-of-living crisis and urges cross-party cooperation and a full review of carbon tax. Speaking in the chamber, she called for targeted use of surplus energy to help households in fuel poverty and for fiscal accountability as international pressures persist.
Tax and excise
Gillian Toole noted recent reductions in excise duty - petrol down 36%, diesel down 47.7% and green diesel down 30.8% - and argued these measures must be set against structural differences in wages and overheads between Northern and Southern Europe. She welcomed the pause on carbon tax and pressed for a full review of its proportionality and apportionment.
Energy and households
Toole highlighted the potential of the energy cloud and the urgent need to target surplus energy to those in fuel poverty. She described this targeting as a practical, immediate step to alleviate stress and financial pressure on vulnerable households amid global shocks beyond the country’s control.
Fiscal responsibility
Urging collaboration across the chamber, Toole stressed accountability and efficiency to achieve balanced budgets. She reminded colleagues that budgets are limits and not targets, and that policy decisions must be balanced against evolving needs while managing an unpredictable international situation day by day.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
But, as others have said, absolutely the crisis and the knock-on cost of living that has arisen because of variables which are completely outside of our control in this country have brought us to this point, but it has also I think brought us to the point where we have to collaborate, cooperate and engage in serious problem-solving across the chamber here to try and alleviate the stress, the anxiety and the financial pressure that everybody is under at this point in time. There has been criticism of tax breaks and I would just like to point out to people excise duty on petrol down 36%, on diesel down 47.7% and on green diesel down 30.8%. Our overheads in Northern Europe are not the equivalent of those in Southern Europe. Wages etc. differ by 30 to 50% so we're not comparing like with like. I welcome the pause on carbon tax but I think at this point in time a full review of carbon tax and the proportionality of it and the apportionment of it is required. I think there are opportunities for us. There was an excellent conversation on energy cloud and the targeting of surplus energy to those in fuel poverty and I think that's something as a matter of urgency that we do need to examine. Finally, accountability and efficiency to achieve balanced budgets going forward because we all have needs, we all have demands. The people who've put us in here have charged us with those, whether it's education, special education, health care. We have to remember that budgets are limits and not targets and whilst we want to give more to people it has to be done in a balanced manner and with a view to the evolving needs but the situation that we're in at the minute is an uncontrollable variable beyond this country and it literally has to be managed on a day-by-day basis to ensure the outcome of everybody.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
