Tax Code
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-21
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

The Deputy cannot come in here and spend the surplus and then pursue a policy agenda that would have resulted in us never having it. We would not have had a surplus if we had followed his economic plan. It has been hard-won and earned by the Irish people and is there to be deployed in an appropriate manner and to make sure that the Deputy's children and mine never experience the austerity we experienced. It is there as an intergenerational support. The Deputy knows that. We put it into funds. They are not rainy day funds; they are funds to prepare for the changes and challenges the country will face in terms of demographics. They are funds to deliver infrastructure and climate projects. They are funds that are making a real difference.
The cost of home heating oil in this country is too high; of that there is no doubt. The energy crisis caused by the war has had a real impact. We have decided not to proceed with the carbon tax increase to assist in not making that situation worse. It is a fair comment. The Deputy asked me to suspend it and we did so because it is a proportionate response.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-21