Fitzmaurice: ‘Every time the price of diesel goes up, farmers get hit'
Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice has criticised the upcoming rise in carbon tax, which is set to increase tomorrow (May 1).
The Roscommon-Galway TD has called the increase 'an insult to struggling families', and said it was time for politicians who previously campaigned against carbon tax increases to 'take a stand' against the measures.
The Natural Gas Carbon Tax (NGCT) and Solid Fuel Carbon Tax (SFCT) rates are currently based on a charge of €56 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions.
Earlier this month (April 3) the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe highlighted that the amount is legislated to increase to €63.50 on May 1, 2025 with further increases each May until 2030.
According to Independent Ireland, this will add around €19 to a 900L-fill of home heating oil, €1.50 to a bag of coal, and 65c to a bale of briquettes.
It also claims that gas customers will now pay approximately €138 per year in carbon tax alone, rising to €220 by 2030 'if the current trajectory continues'.
Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice
Deputy Fitzmaurice believes the figures highlight 'just how disconnected government policy has become from the everyday reality facing families across the country'.
He said: 'You've got people skipping meals to cover the ESB. You've got pensioners afraid to turn on the heating, and now they're being told the solution is more tax.
'Meanwhile, last year the government took in €1 billion in carbon tax receipts. Ask yourself, how many hospital beds would that buy? How many people could be taken out of emergency accommodation for that amount of money?'
Independent Ireland is calling for a freeze on further carbon tax increases and for a 'fairer' energy plan that protects those with no viable alternatives, particularly in rural Ireland where home heating oil and solid fuels remain the only practical options.
The party has said that Ireland's agricultural sector is also being hammered by the rising costs tied to carbon tax.
Deputy Fitzmaurice said: 'Every time the price of diesel goes up, farmers take another hit. You can't move cattle or run a tractor on good intentions.
'The carbon tax is pushing up the cost of doing business, but farm incomes aren't keeping pace. The policy is not just economically damaging, but environmentally incoherent.'
'Small, sustainable Irish farms are being taxed at every turn and in many cases blamed for environmental issues, while it is in fact the state and its failure to address issues in water treatment plants that are having the greatest impact on things like water quality, but that is largely ignored,' he added.
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