Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-03
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

Retrofitting helps people to reduce their bills on a sustainable basis into the future. Third, that would be pulling the rug from under farmers who will benefit this year to the tune of €173 million from the carbon tax revenue in the form of agri-environmental schemes in terms of the ACRES programme. I argued for a carbon tax at the beginning of the 2020 Government on the basis that it would provide us with funding to enable change to happen. There is no way you could fund the retrofit programme without a dedicated ring-fenced budget. There is no way you could do that on a sustainable basis. We have created an industry and a lot of opportunities for workers and new companies in retrofitting. Does the Deputy want to take all that away over night and take away that clarity and certainty of landscape that is out there until 2030 and beyond? We do accept, without question, there is pressure on people and there potentially might be even greater pressure as a result of this crisis but we will look at that in the round in terms of how we can support people more generally regarding supports. We will keep that under review as it unfolds. That is a more effective way of dealing with this and helping to support people. In the budget, prior to the outbreak of war, we supported those most in need and we targeted the resources to working families on low incomes and those on social protection as opposed to a universal approach.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-03/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-03