Tax Data
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Louis O'Hara (SF), Galway East

The recent carbon tax increases we have seen impact on the most vulnerable households. It hits them the hardest. As we know, households are facing rising costs across the board, particularly when it comes to filling the car with fuel and heating the home, yet the Government is set to plough ahead with these increases. They are scheduled until 2030 at least. Households are expected to take on this burden at a time when many households are struggling. The Minister says this is a tax that will contribute toward changing people's behaviour but the reality for the people I represent in rural Ireland, that is, people who have to drive their car to get from A to B, who do not have public transport they can rely on, who have to heat their homes and who do not have the alternatives, is that carbon tax is not going to change their behaviour. It is simply a tax that punishes them. While households face these increases, a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General found that just 61% of the carbon tax revenue could be verified as having been spent on the target schemes and programmes the Minister has mentioned. While the Government is making great announcements that the carbon tax revenue is ring-fenced and focused on these initiatives, this report demonstrates that the ring-fencing is not actually happening and that it is being treated the same as general taxation. Why are people being misled on this?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-24