“Do not punish the person who has no choice in the matter and who has no public transport,“ said Cork South-West Independent TD Michael Collins, as he expressed outrage at the government’s refusal to postpone carbon tax hikes in Budget 2023.
He said the “devil is in the detail “regarding the excise reductions of 21c/L for petrol and 16c/L for diesel.
He stated that “people got nothing as it was like a con job “with VAT, excise and extensions on the taxation side.
The deputy accused the government of failing to deliver for farmers in relation to fuel and the carbon tax as well as for the people of rural Ireland.
Recently, in the Dáil chamber, he said: “We even asked the Minister to postpone the carbon tax to give a chance to people during a difficult time, but he still refused to do so. “
“There is the issue of the farmer who has to use their machines. They cannot just pull up and hope that wind energy will come and drive the tractor. There is also the lorry driver who is hauling the food to the shops.”
Food prices
He added that the price of food is increasing to a stage where it is “now out of control”.
“The government cannot control it because fuel is gone out of the price range of the ordinary people,” he remarked.
He believes that, at the very least, the carbon tax should have been postponed to“give people a chance”.
He continued: “Let the options come, and the people will move in the right direction, but the options are not there”.“
“I have often said it here that carbon tax is just a tax for pet projects around the capital. The minister has yet to prove me wrong”,” the deputy concluded.
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