The recent protests at our docks and roads brought the carbon tax into focus as one of the demands of the protesters, and also a key demand of Independent Ireland.
Green Party candidate for the bye-election, Niall Murphy, has expressed concern that this has set a precedent, “Delaying the carbon tax reduces support for farmers and the most vulnerable.
“32,000 homes have been upgraded, free-of-charge, under the Warmer Homes scheme, which is funded by carbon tax,” he points out. “It’s available to people in receipt of welfare payments in seven categories and it ensures that they stay warm.
“As oil prices surge, those homes are using less oil. We need the carbon tax to continue to protect those most vulnerable and to reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels.
“Similarly, the carbon tax funds farmers in receipt of payment from the ACRES scheme. It is helping farmers to move to more sustainable farming methods. Calls to scrap the carbon tax are calls to scrap these schemes that benefit small farmers and vulnerable households.”
While the government initially took the position that the carbon tax could not be touched, it later bowed to pressure and deferred the scheduled increase from its original date on May 1st until October.
“Parties such as Independent Ireland claim to represent rural and the less well-off members of society but attacking the carbon tax is actually an attack on a subsidy for farmers and those suffering fuel poverty,” says Mr. Murphy
“The motivation behind emphasising the carbon tax over other taxes seems to be part of an agenda of denying climate change. By holding the government and the country to ransom, then protesters have set the precedent that this tax is up for grabs and we can expect further calls for it to be reduced in future”.
Niall Murphy says removing the carbon tax would only reduce a litre of petrol by 16.35c and a litre of diesel by 18.74c.
“It is important to realise that the carbon tax is a fixed amount per tonne of CO2. It is not a percentage. If we did not have annual reviews of the carbon tax then inflation would mean that the carbon tax would fall as a percentage. Each annual review is an opportunity for populists to suggest that there is something unfair about this increase.”
Niall Murphy is conscious that the carbon tax is politically unpopular
“I would have preferred if they had called it a pollution tax, so that people would understand that it is addressing a problem we all want to solve.”
