I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that: — the annual rate of consumer price inflation, as measured by the European Union's Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, has picked up sharply in recent months, reaching a multi-decade high of 8.3 per cent in May; — the key driver of inflation at present is the sharp rise in wholesale energy, food and other commodity prices since the onset of the war in Ukraine; — Budget 2022 contained a large range of measure…

It said the measure proportionately benefited people on lower incomes compared with those on higher incomes. For people with an income of only a few hundred euro a week, the extra €200 meant much more to them than it did to a person on a higher income. Another report noted that measures to reduce taxes and levies on diesel and petrol, which Sinn Féin calls for every day of the week, are the least targeted measures. It is important to say that. Most people will agree we must target our resources where they will have…

I thank the Senator for moving the amendment on behalf of his colleagues. I am aware that his party has a great interest in this legislation and I engaged with Deputy Doherty in the Dáil on the same amendment on all Stages of the Bill in recent weeks. Lower interest rates are better for consumers and that is why the key purpose of this legislation is to reduce interest rates. Members of the Opposition will say that the Government is not being ambitious enough, but we have to strike a balance here to reduce rates wi…

I understand the Senator's point regarding credit unions. Wearing my hat as Minister of State with responsibility for credit unions, I would encourage everyone who is seeking a short-term loan for a family event - it is something that people used to do - to join his or her local credit union where possible. I fear that some of the people in question have exhausted their credit limits with their credit unions, every other institution and their family and friends, and that this is their lender of last resort. We want…

I welcome the opportunity to address the Dáil on the issue of insurance reform. This is a key priority for the Government as a whole and has been a key focus of my post as the Minister of State with responsibility for insurance issues. As all Members of this House will be keenly aware, a well-functioning insurance industry is vital for a healthy and vibrant economy. The pricing and availability of general insurance has been subject to considerable volatility in recent years, in particular for some sectors. The vast…

I thank the 30 Deputies who contributed to this debate on insurance reform. One of Deputies stated that it is a dry topic. Anybody who contributed to the debate understands that insurance is a real issue that affects every household and business in Ireland. I will summarise one or two points I made at the beginning in case some Deputies were not present. The biggest sector in the insurance market is motor insurance, with 2.2 million policies. Some 1.6 million homes are insured in the house insurance market, which i…

I acknowledge the remarks the Deputy made about the Minister for Finance. He is chairing a Eurogroup meeting today. I think everybody is aware that he had his mother's funeral on the last day, which was totally unforeseen. Everybody understood that, but I take the point he makes. The Deputy will be aware that the Government has responded in a timely and forceful manner to limit the impact on households of international commodity price-driven inflation. Interventions designed to address the increase in the cost-of-l…

I understand that. The inflation situation has been increasing. Aside from the budgetary effects that came in on 1 January, we did introduce measures very quickly and promptly after that in February. Everybody knows that included the €200, including VAT, energy credit to every electricity account holder in the country. Everybody should have received that by now. More importantly, there was a reduction in the public transport fare for people who cannot afford a car to travel to work and who rely on public transport.…

I will take up the last point in particular about putting the rent back in renters' pockets. If the Government had ever suggested anything like that, the Deputy and the party opposite would be the first to say this is a subsidy for landlords. That is exactly what would be said, and that is the way it would work out-----

-----and when landlords know, there would be an increase. In fairness, we can do a lot but we cannot do everything to mitigate it. The measures to date have been well over €2 billion. Recently, our concentration is also on employment and the hospitality sector. Many places cannot even open on Mondays and Tuesdays, such as restaurants and places serving food. One of the solutions was to reduce VAT to make it more economical for people to go to those places and to get employment back up. The best insulation we have a…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue because it is one that affects hundreds of thousands of people, especially since Ulster Bank announced its withdrawal from the Irish market as part of the NatWest group, and KBC has announced likewise. The retail financial services sector is going through a major period of change. In the past year, we have seen a number of announcements from the main retail banks regarding their operations in the State, including reductions in the branch network throughout the country. Whil…

I hear what the Deputy said about the regulations not being conducive but it is all about providing financial services. Every single financial service provided in Ireland does not have to be provided by a regulated body in Ireland. Such a body can be regulated in any EU country and provide services in Ireland. For example, and I do not want to overemphasise it, there are 1.6 million Revolut account cardholders in Ireland today. That is very significant. Notwithstanding the narrowing of the banking structure, change…

On the farming sector, the Deputy mentioned credit unions. As he knows, they have a very good product called cultivate. Several credit unions in all the provinces provide that scheme, which provides 50,000 unsecured loans to farmers. It may not be a lot in the context of the scale of some farming activity, but it is quite significant for many farmers. That is an important source of new finance in that sector. I also say to people that the Central Bank is most keen on, and the Minister and the Central Bank are both …

Again, this is a very significant issue affecting many people. Ireland's taxation on fuel is governed by European Union law set out in various directives, commonly known as energy tax directives, ETDs, which the Deputy will be aware of. These directives prescribe minimum tax rates for fuel, which all member states must comply with. These directives' provisions on mineral oils are transposed into national law under the Finance Act 1999, as amended, and provide for the application of excise duty in the form of minera…

Our ability to reduce excise duty is impacted by various EU directives. I have covered the current MOT rates on petrol and auto diesel extensively. The MOT rates per thousand litres are €465 for petrol and €405.38 for auto diesel. Prior to March, the MOT rate on petrol was €636 per 1,000 l, which was reduced by €170, representing a substantial cut of more than 26%. The ESRI report is interesting. I accept there has to be a balance. We must help working people, but perhaps better-off people who have larger cars that…

The Deputy has again mentioned the ESRI report. I thank its authors – Ms Michelle Barrett, Dr. Niall Farrell and Dr. Barra Roantree – on their excellent report, which was funded by the Community Foundation for Ireland, whose chief executive wrote in the foreword, "Many of the 5,000 voluntary, community and charitable groups we work with will be looking at this report and no doubt will reflect on it as they make pre-Budget submissions to government." Essentially, the report is a great bank of information published b…

The Deputy knows there are different issues affecting VAT. He is aware excise is applied to a unit of fuel and remains the same regardless of the fuel's price. It is based on volume. Therefore, no extra revenue is raised from the excise duty if the price increases. VAT is different. People ask why excise duties cannot be reduced, but excise is based on volume, not price. However, I accept there have been extra VAT receipts, which have gone some of the way towards paying for some of the measures we have introduced r…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 5, 21, 23, 44 and 65 together. I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for raising this question. As the House will be aware, excise duty is applied to fuels on a volumetric basis in the case of non-carbon charges and on the basis of carbon dioxide omissions in the case of carbon tax. As such, the revenue raised from excise duties does not increase in light of increased prices, as may be the case with the ad valorem application of taxation. The Government is aware of the impact of rising fuel pri…

On fuel excise, a package of measures, to the value of €320 million, was introduced on 10 March. I know the Deputy said that was little or nothing but €320 million is a substantial figure and that was only done quite recently. That reduced the VAT, inclusive of excise duty on petrol and diesel, by 20 cent and 15 cent per litre, respectively. These reductions mitigate the cost of a fill of a 60-litre tank by €12 for petrol and €9 for diesel. We know that as we head back into the next winter season, when it comes to …

The Deputy's question is specific about the reduction in excise duties for petrol, diesel and marked gas oil. I know he said he has concerns about other issues and people on lower incomes and social welfare payments who might not be affected to the same extent as people trying to get to and from work. The question he asked was specifically on that issue and I have been confining my remarks to the specific question that was raised and, in particular, to what the ESRI said about that this morning, which I have quoted…