Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-29
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

The Government announced fuel supports and a reduction in fuel costs for particular sectors. I understand the package amounts to €750 million in total. Let us put that in perspective. A reply to a recent parliamentary question stated that the Government took in €4.3 billion in fuel taxes and €1.2 billion in carbon tax last year. Both of those were the highest amounts ever. The justification the Government uses when it comes to carbon tax is that it ring-fences it and uses it for carbon reduction measures. Of course, like a lot of what the Government says, that is completely untrue. The reply to an Aontú parliamentary question shows that between 2020 and 2023, 39% of all carbon tax collected was not spent on climate action schemes. I am sure the Ceann Comhairle has heard it said a million times in this Chamber and in the media that this money is going to be spent on climate change issues. It is not, in many cases. Some 19% of that money was simply went into the State's coffers and 17% of it was spent on social welfare. A massive proportion of carbon tax is simply a tax by any other name-----

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-29