Paul Lawless
Mayo · Aontú · Ireland
“Confidence in our education system depends on quality resources but parents remain seriously concerned about inappropriate material that is being promoted in our schools, libraries, etc. Concerns have been raised in relation to the book What's the T?”
“They would make up a higher proportion of the membership of the Dáil than is the case at Westminster. Aontú's leader, Deputy Peadar Tóibín, during his time on the Oireachtas enterprise committee, completed the first Oireachtas report on the all-island economy.”
“Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace — respect for diversity. Aontú believes fundamentally in a united Ireland.”
“It is important that those who oppose a united Ireland - who are now a minority on this island, and increasingly so - are treated as equals and with the respect they deserve in the discussions relating to a united Ireland. I have good friends from the Protestant tradition to whom I speak on a near daily basis.”
“The Tánaiste once said that he wanted to make Ireland the best country in the world in which to raise a child. He is failing in that regard. We have a situation where we have record homelessness among children, spinal surgery waiting lists and children with special needs or disabilities who are waiting for supports.”
“Rather than celebrating and respecting our differences and our right to be different politically or religiously, they wish to make us all the same. They want to make us all apolitical atheists who never speak on or campaign in respect of the issues.”
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“The July provision summer programme exists for the most vulnerable children in this country. This year the government has made a complete shambles of it. First, the Government opened and closed the application window before many schools and families even knew it was open. Second, the Government significantly cut some of the teachers and SNAs allocated to schools. Third, effectively the late allocations arriving at the eleventh hour means that many schools do not know whether or not they can open on Monday morning. For example, Claremorris National School last year ran the programme with 15 staff members. This year, this allocation has been cut to just five. The fact that this allocation only arrived last week, days before the summer programme is due to commence, has left this programme under significant jeopardy.”
“While it is not a full cure, the clinical guidelines show that it will reduce the progression of the disease by half for some patients. For many patients, that is the difference between living and surviving. It would have an immense impact on these young people's lives. I know there is a very important meeting coming up in August. Many families across Ireland are clinging on to hope. I ask the Minister of State to make sure that the voices of these families are heard in that CPU meeting and I ask him to update this House as soon as possible.”
“I want to speak on behalf of families and patients with Friedreich's ataxia and muscular dystrophy. I want to speak particularly for Eric Fitzgerald, a young man from Ballyhaunis, in County Mayo, who is losing power and muscle and whose lower limbs have weakened significantly. His condition is getting progressively worse. For Eric, the passage of time means the loss of muscle. It is extraordinarily sad. I met a group of young people with Friedreich's ataxia last month. I met a wonderful young woman called Emily Felix. Emily's story is again exceptionally sad. Emily has started recording her voice because she is losing her voice and losing muscle. That tells you how painful this disease is. There is some hope, however, and that hope is in the form of the medication Skyclarys. It was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2024.”
“No one should be released from prison with no fixed abode and effectively shoved into a large accommodation centre with other people who have recently been released from prison. It is a dynamite combination and it must be ended. I call on the Minister of State to look into this issue in Mayo, Knock, Balla and Crossmolina. I ask her to come back to me on it.”
“There is a better way. If you look at how Galway County Council operates its model, people who are released from prison go to a professionally run service with counselling and risk assessment protocols. It is effectively operating a step-down facility and COPE charity is managing that for the council. It protects individuals, promotes rehabilitation, protects communities, and, crucially, it protects the gardaí too. Instead of funnelling public money into the hands and pockets of landlords, we should be investing properly in rehabilitation and step-down facilities. The model is there and I call on the Minister of State to end this failed experiment. It is causing devastating consequences in Mayo in particular. I want the Minister of State to put proper structures in place.”
“I have spoken to professionals, addiction counsellors, psychologists and many other specialists, and they have all agreed that you cannot place recently released offenders into privately run, profit-led facilities without any oversight. When you take a man who may have burgled a house and place him alongside a man who may have burgled a car, that is not a rehabilitation centre. You are effectively creating a school of crime. When one person can learn from another, it is the reverse of Batman and Robin. This is happening in Knock, Balla and Crossmolina. It is causing devastating consequences for the individuals, where no rehabilitation is happening, for the community, who have to live with the effects of this, and for the gardaí, who are massively stretched and yet have to deal with such difficult circumstances as well.”
“What is effectively happening in rural communities is that some local authorities are sending individuals into Mayo, in places like Knock, Balla and Crossmolina, and placing them into the hands of private landlords without any professional support structures, risk assessment or rehabilitation pathways whatsoever. In this model, the only beneficiary is the landlord itself. I have been reliably informed that Roscommon County Council is sending persons released from prison to landlords in Mayo. Worryingly, one of these landlords has plans to expand his enterprise into Claremorris, into a location beside schools. Mayo should not be used as a dumping ground in relation to this.”
“We have a big problem with gun crime in this country. It is important that we work collectively with other countries to stop that. Crime is causing enormous stress for rural communities, in towns and villages right across the country. It is important that we have a serious conversation about what happens to people when they are released from prison. Over the past five years, more than 3,500 persons have been released from prison with no fixed abode. Many go straight into emergency accommodation, with no plan, no supports and no oversight.”
“The Minister can smile but I have asked him what his plan is and he has no plan to address this and no plan to provide protection for rural communities. It is simply unacceptable.”
“The bigger issue in relation to all of this is that the EPA has told us in black and white that even if all of the planned measures are delivered, Ireland will achieve a reduction of 23% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and not the target of 51%. The target is out of reach and has been for a number of years. Under the EU's effort-sharing regulation, that gap comes with significant fines. I have raised a number of times on the floor of the Dáil that these are fines the Minister simply ignores. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Climate Change Advisory Council have outlined that we are going to face fines of somewhere in the region of €6 billion to €26 billion. This has been confirmed the Comptroller and Auditor General.”
“Turbines are being situated dangerously close to families and their homes and it is unacceptable. It is unacceptable at a time when applications are coming at such a significant rate. Right across Mayo, planning applications are being submitted. Meanwhile, the Minister is sitting on the guidelines that are 20 years out of date. It is unacceptable. We have called for updated guidelines and, indeed, many other parties have called for them. It is only fair. The Minister should provide updated guidelines for families in relation to wind turbines. Meanwhile, households right across Ireland are paying the highest electricity costs in Europe. More than 500,000 energy bills are now in arrears and data centres are the primary driver of this. They are causing an inflationary aspect to household bills.”
“Rural Ireland is bearing the brunt of the country's energy policy and getting very little in return. In Mayo and right across the west of Ireland, planning applications for huge wind turbines are landing at massive rates. These structures are not small. Indeed, they are bigger than the Dublin Spire, Big Ben and the Statue of Liberty. Community consultation is simply inadequate. In some cases, it is not being done properly at all and it is restrictive in terms of who can access or engage with developers. These are the communities who are responsible. These are the communities who will live with these turbines for decades to come. The truth is that the Government has resisted Aontú's calls for planning guidelines. The guidelines are 20 years out of date. The Minister knows this.”
“The idea of community service being used as a tool to try to alleviate the capacity difficulties in prisons should concern us all. In 2024, some 700 prisoners went missing from the system. By the end of that year, 131 prisoners unlawfully at large were still unaccounted for. It is very worrying as well that currently 66% of prisoners in Ireland are repeat offenders. The system is crumbling and the fact that in some cases people are being released within a day of incarceration is simply not good enough. Prison capacity has an impact on the alarmingly high reoffending rate. It impacts on programmes that should be taking place and in some cases cannot because of the difficulties in the Prison Service. This is a obviously totally unacceptable.”
“We wholeheartedly oppose that. It is very clear that the objective here is primarily more to do with prison capacity than the safety of citizens or anything else. The solution of a community service order is because of the fact that prisons are so overcrowded. In 2024, more than 1,000 prisoners were released on temporary release within 24 hours of being sent to prison. In reply to a parliamentary question, the previous Minister, Deputy McEntee, told Aontú that her officials were selecting candidates for early release due to capacity issues in prisons. It is deeply concerning that this is happening. We need to have a serious conversation about it. The Minister must ensure that prison capacity is significantly expanded so that legislation like this is not necessary.”
“There are some positive elements in the Bill that I would very much like to vote for and then there are difficulties with it as well. It is very broad and diverse. It would have been much more positive if we had the opportunity to engage with the issues on an individual level and discuss them in detail. We support the proposal on counselling notes. People who have suffered, in particular from sexual assault, should not have their private counselling notes spilled out in a courtroom. The reforms in that regard are a step in the right direction. However, there are some major concerns about the community service aspect of the Bill. One part of this legislation - it is quite clearly outlined - will potentially allow drug dealers, who in some cases would have been considered for a two-year prison sentence, to basically get community service.”
“Ireland is the second most expensive country in the EU. It is important that the Minister look at that, for example, car rentals. I spoke to an Irish-American family who came back to Ireland last year. They outlined the phenomenal expense of their stay. They said that going forward with a young family, it is becoming increasingly difficult. They talked about how obtaining a car rental and car insurance cost thousands of euro for a two-week trip. I ask the Minister to consider that and look at those practical measures.”
“Mayo is one of the most scenic and beautiful counties in this country. In recent years, we welcomed the US President and I understand next week Mayo is due to welcome the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney. Tourism is the lifeblood of so many areas in Mayo, including west Mayo, east Mayo, north and south, in Cong, for example, Westport, Clare Island, the Barony of Erris, which is absolutely stunning, and Achill Island. Mayo has so much to offer. Many communities, particularly rural ones, depend on tourism. That is why I am very concerned about the short-term lettings. It is very important that we protect families who have a long-standing tradition in relation to it. I also concerned by the fact there was a 6% drop in tourism last year. That represents millions of euro to the Irish economy and cost competitiveness is a factor.”
“The EU migration pact was passed in the Dáil by just seven votes and within six months, 35 TDs had either retired or lost their seats. Ireland is not in Schengen. Ireland shares a common travel area with Britain and we are an island nation. We have every right to control and manage our own borders. Yet, in June 2024 the Government voted to surrender that control. It handed decision-making over to the EU in terms of who can enter Ireland, how claims are processed and even the potential fines we will face. This pact was not designed for Ireland. It was not designed for our geography or, indeed, our housing crisis or public services crisis. Incredibly, the Tánaiste cannot outline to the Dáil-----”
“All of this is landing at a time inputs continue to rise and factory quotes are falling dramatically. Over the past year, there have been reductions of over €1 per kg of beef and in the past number of weeks, there was about 50 cent of a drop. It is simply not good enough. The scheme is totally inadequate.”
“When they looked at the detail of the scheme, they saw it is calculated so that the minimum payment is €100 and the minimum amount of fuel is 1,200 litres of green diesel from the previous year, 2025. That is the threshold. Below 1,200 litres, people cannot apply and do not qualify. The Government has promised farmers a scheme and the vast majority of small and medium-sized farmers across Ireland are ineligible. Small beef farmers, part-time farmers, men and women who have 30, 40 or 50 suckler cows and 50 or 60 acres will not avail in the vast majority of cases. I have spoken to farm consultants who, in some cases, are advising farmers not to bother because it is not worth it. The spin has to end. It is time the Government treated farmers and the people of this country with decency and honesty.”
“Let us be honest about the fuel support scheme. The Government sold farmers a pup. When the price of green diesel spiked by 80% and farmers were struggling, the Government offered them 2.4 cents off per litre. It was an insult. We warned the Government on the floor of the Dáil what was going to happen. Sure enough, what happened was a revolt. When farmers and contractors went to the trouble of protesting, the Government, after several days of blackening those people, announced a bigger scheme for farmers worth €100 million. Ministers were on the radio promising €100 million and promising farmers relief. The reality was very different because the vast majority of farmers I have spoken to in County Mayo are ineligible. They cannot apply. They listened to the Minister for agriculture and many other Ministers on radio promising relief.”
“Who is the Government's energy policy serving in a situation where data centres are driving up the energy costs for families and paying less per unit of electricity?”
“If the Government is going to make Ireland the data centre capital of Europe, it better have a plan. A plan does not mean that ordinary households are subsidising data centres. That is currently what is happening. The report to which I refer estimates that the current trajectory in terms of data centres is 22%, and that this is on the rise and is driving up the cost of energy in this country. The truth is that this is going to mean an estimated €1.4 billion in additional costs to consumers over the next number of years. Some 300,000 people are already in energy arrears. Ireland has the most expensive electricity prices in Europe. The ESB is profiteering. It made €650 million last year. The CEO of the ESB earns over €300,000. Who is the ESB serving?”
“She asked me if it could be real, such was the extortionate level of the amount listed. The cost of electricity is a major issue in the cost-of-living crisis. Over 300,000 people are in energy arrears. In many cases, these are hard-working people and pensioners. They are really struggling. The policy of the Government has essentially been to offer energy credits before an election and then abandon them afterwards. Data centres are paying about 50% less per unit of electricity. Families cannot understand this and are really frustrated. This is by design, in many respects. The trajectory is going to add more costs to households. When will the Government introduce legislation to regulate the data centre sector in the context of electricity prices? When is it going to introduce a sustainable policy in this regard?”
“Today in Ireland, a pensioner living alone or a family pays almost twice as much for a unit of electricity than a data centre. This is despite the fact many data centres are parts of the wealthiest corporations in the world. The demand from data centres is driving up the cost of electricity. In 2024, data centres consumed 22% of electricity in Ireland. That was more than every household in urban Ireland. That is an incredible figure. A report released today by Friends of the Earth shows that, on our current trajectory, data centres will add €1.4 billion to the cost of household electricity in the coming years. That is a hidden data centre tax. Every week at my constituency clinic, this is a major issue. Last week, an elderly pensioner came to my clinic and showed me her electricity bill.”
“It should put it on a permanent footing and ensure that publicans and the wider hospitality sector have the confidence to invest in these facilities. The pub trade is struggling massively. Over the last 20 years, thousands of pubs have closed. Last year, 360 pubs closed. Many of those were in rural Ireland. In many villages, the last remaining public building was a pub - there was no community centre or shop. We need to refocus. We should support rural pubs to stay alive to make sure every community has a hub.”
“How fitting it is that we are here today in the heatwave of summer 2026 discussing outdoor dining and socialising on this beautiful day and a beautiful week? Right across Ireland, people are enjoying a beverage outside in the sunshine. Good luck to them and God bless them. We had a long winter. I hope that every person enjoys the beautiful weather we are having. I supported this legislation last year, I will support it today and I will support it again in the future because outdoor seating and socialising is a good thing. We should support it. We should put it on a permanent footing and encourage every person to get out and enjoy a drink outside if possible. It is good for your health - vitamin D and so on. We should not roll over this legislation every six months or a year.”
“In response to Aontú's calls for cutting carbon tax, the Taoiseach constantly made the assertion that we needed the funds for other climate action measures. However, further research that I have undertaken shows that the Government is unable to spend much of the carbon tax and is unable to spend the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, levy. We support this motion and I thank my colleagues in Independent Ireland for bringing it forward.”
“Despite the reductions in excise duty, the Government actually came out of the situation significantly better off in terms of tax revenue. In March of this year, because of the spike in fuel prices that so many families and businesses were suffering, the Government took in an additional €6 million in excise duty compared with the same month last year. That was just one month. It is mind-boggling to think that the Government is still intent on increasing carbon taxes in October. Canada has reduced carbon tax to zero and Spain has reduced VAT on fuel to 10% while VAT in Ireland is still at 23%. The high taxation policy in relation to fuel is driving a rip-off republic. It is driving inflation in every single sector in this economy.”
“I want to make the point very clearly that, back when Russia invaded Ukraine and the Government took steps to reduce tax on fuel, the overall tax take on fuel did not reduce. In fact, it increased from the previous year. The rate of inflation was such that the public purse did not take a hit despite the excise reduction. In March 2022, as a result of the war, the Government reduced excise duty from 20 cent to 15 cent on diesel and it began restoring excise duty in June 2023, yet between the years 2022 and 2023, the amount of tax taken by this Government actually increased by about €60 million despite the excise reduction. This is what the impact of inflation is doing and what this motion tries to correct. The amount taken in carbon tax on petrol and diesel increased by 20% to 25% each year while the measures were in place.”
“Through a parliamentary question, I have discovered that this Government is on track to take in €200 million more this year in carbon tax than last year. This will be the case even if the Government abandons the October increase in carbon tax. The carbon tax take is set to increase again. Every year, it is on an upward trajectory. According to figures released to Aontú, carbon tax is the second largest component of tax on fuel, second only to VAT, which is 23%. The motion before us here today is not an expensive one. It is basic arithmetic. If the price of a product doubles, then one can cut the tax on that product by half and expect to take in the same revenue as the previous year.”
“Aontú will be supporting the motion brought forward by my colleagues in Independent Ireland. As someone from a rural constituency, I know the hardships and difficulties that a high cost of fuel imposes on rural constituencies. We need economic controls and supports that trigger automatically when price inflation and fuel inflation soars. We cannot continue the current system where small businesses have to take to the streets to protest for their livelihoods during times of price hikes. Of course, it is not by accident that the Government is so slow to act and move. Inflation equals higher tax revenue, which suits the Government. Periods of high inflation where prices and energy costs soar are actually favourable to tax revenue because of the tax instrument in terms of fuel, percentages and VAT.”
“The Disability Federation of Ireland said that because people with disabilities were in the region of €1,200 less well off after the budget than they were beforehand. The Government removed all the one-off supports and did not replace them with any significant supports. I ask the Minister to ensure that the Government comes good on its promises this time.”
“The programme for Government contains a commitment in respect of the introduction of a permanent payment for disability supports. We do not need to issue more reports or commence any new consultations. We all know that the cost of disability is significant and that it must be prioritised. The Government cannot wait until the next general election and then campaign on the same basis that it did in the most recent one. Promises must mean something. They must be delivered upon. The truth is that budget 2026 was described by the Disability Federation of Ireland as a "devastating setback". You would not have thought that would be the case in the context of a budget produced by the politicians who campaigned very hard on this topic.”
“In rural Ireland, it is an extraordinarily expensive endeavour to get around, socialise and engage with services. We all know people with disabilities. I recently spoke to a wonderful mother whose child has a disability. That mother is afraid to die. She is afraid to die because of the lack of supports for her adult child. It would break your heart to hear a woman in her senior years coming to my clinic and saying that she is afraid to die and asking what supports, including in the context of housing, are available. It is quite devastating. Let us look at Government policy, campaigning, rhetoric and the promises made to people with disabilities most recent general election campaign. It must be stated that, to date, those promises have been broken.”
“There is a significant cost to having a disability. We all know that. We do not need any more reports, consultations or reviews. This is very clear. The cost involved is in the region of an additional €1,500 per year. The Indecon report of 2021 clearly outlined the cost of disability. That report was commissioned by the Government. In light of inflation, we know that the cost has risen significantly. The cost of energy, for example, for people with disabilities is significant. Many people with disabilities are immobile and feel the cold. The cost-of-living and cost-of-fuel crises have hit people with disabilities in a significant way in the context of the cost of assistive technologies, healthcare, medicine, housing adaption supports, mobility and transport. I know many people in Mayo whose main mode of transport is specialised taxis.”
“It is money for bombs. Where is the money and flexibility to address the housing crisis in the country? The Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, budget is going to see a significant cut as a result of this. If the Minister wants to see the triple lock gone and is so confident the Government has the support of the Irish people, put it to them by means of a referendum.”
“The triple lock will remove the UN Security Council veto, meaning the deployment of our Defence Forces will be effectively in the hands of two political parties. Increasingly in those two political parties, backbenchers are not listened to, particularly in Fianna Fáil. We are essentially giving control of our Defence Forces to two political leaders. That is what this is ultimately going to lead to. The context of this is very significant. Europe is on a path to militarisation and is rearming. European funding has been and is being directed away from social funding, agriculture and other areas and into rearming. It is increasingly going to be spent on guns and bombs. That is the truth. The ironically named "safe regulation" under the "ReArm Europe" plan offers Ireland incredible financial flexibility in terms of purchasing missiles.”
“Neutrality and our triple lock is a serious element of our defence and foreign policy. Indeed, Irish people widely support our neutrality and are proud of it. I want to clearly say to the Minister that if she and the Government want to remove the triple lock, put it to the people by means of a referendum. Promises may not mean much to many Government politicians and, indeed, promises mean very little it seems to Fianna Fáil but to the rest of the country, promises matter. Fianna Fáil assured the public in 2009 that the triple lock would be maintained in order to pass the Nice treaty. Assurances were given to the Irish people. The triple lock was, therefore, essentially passed indirectly through a referendum. Now Fianna Fáil and, indeed, Fine Gael want to remove it.”
“They are almost embarrassed to outline the situation. It is not those people who should be embarrassed; it is the Government. It has utterly failed housing. We could build housing in the 1930s and 1940s. Today we cannot because it is a cost crisis. The Government has allowed building inflation to spiral out of control. It has done almost nothing to alleviate this major difficulty. The legislation introduced last March made it even worse. I stood here in the Dáil before the vote and warned and urged the Minister to reconsider. I actually warned the Minister that this legislation would become known as the flight of the small landlord. It would lead to an avalanche of evictions. As night follows day, that is what has happened. Eviction notices have increased by 50%, reaching 7,000 evictions in the first three months of 2026.”
“This is Ireland in 2026 - too rich for social housing and too poor to survive in the private rental sector. That is what the Government's housing policies have done. In County Mayo, where evictions are spiralling out of control, the social housing support threshold is €30,000. Let us imagine trying to run a household, pay bills, pay rent and run a car on €30,000. Once upon a time, homelessness was associated with complex problems like addiction and so on. We are facing a new wave of homelessness and a new face of homelessness. That face is hard-working people. That face is the working poor. That is what the Government's policies have done. I see it every week in my constituency. The frightening thing is that most of the people who I have spoken to in my clinics across Mayo have never availed of any social supports in their lives.”
“This week I spoke to a family from County Wicklow. The parents are Ciaran and Jessie Redmond. Their daughter was recently diagnosed with leukaemia. They are facing eviction. They were both self-employed, hard-working parents doing the best they can for their family. Unfortunately, Ciaran has been forced into taking some leave from his work to care for his daughter. They do not qualify for any support. They were offered emergency accommodation. Imagine caring for your child with leukaemia and living in emergency accommodation. A hard-working family who did everything right, a family with both self-employed parents, and they have been told by the Government to go to homeless accommodation. That is what is happening right across the country.”
“The committee drafting Ireland’s nature restoration plan has already raised concerns about the absence of the nature funding within the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund. The principal investment framework for this State, which runs up to 2035, does not even adequately support the objectives the Government has signed us up to. Instead, and quite incredibly, the bulk of the funding is actually being diverted to the Dublin MetroLink. To be clear, we signed up to the Nature Restoration Law and then the Government diverted the money away from nature restoration into MetroLink. This is not the only area where we are basically sleepwalking into European fines. Ireland is already falling significantly short of our EU emissions targets and the gap between what we have committed to and what is happening on the ground is widening.”
“The Government has a habit of signing up to laws and targets, making announcements and slapping itself on the back before walking away. It walks away without a plan, without any ring-fenced funding for the targets it has set out to achieve and really without any plan to deliver what is proposed. The EU Nature Restoration Law is a perfect example of this. We are now legally obliged to restore at least 20% of our land and sea by 2030. That is not just a target or an aspiration but a legally-binding obligation with fines attached. My questions for the Minister of State is how we achieve this without any ring-fenced funding or plan and ultimately who will pay the fines that are attached. On the one hand the legal obligations are intensifying while on the other the funding is being pulled away.”
“I support all of the men and women who are standing on picket lines across the country. In Mayo, there are areas that are incredibly poorly served. In Erris recently, Stephen Lavelle, God rest his soul, was left without an ambulance for a considerable length of time. I support them and I urge the Minister of State to do so. They are under immense pressure, and we need to support the National Ambulance Service.”
“I want to start by thanking all of the nurses, not just in this country, but all of our Irish nurses right across the world in Australia, Canada and America. Some of our best and brightest young people are educated here, which is paid for by the taxpayer, and then essentially forced abroad. That is what has happened over many years. It is devastating to hear that there are new talks of a recruitment freeze, given that the previous recruitment freeze drove our best and brightest away. Now, the Department is talking about another recruitment freeze. This cannot happen. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past. The health service is under immense pressure. Nurses are under immense pressure. There are over 5,000 unfilled nursing and midwifery positions in the HSE. I also want to talk about the National Ambulance Service.”
“The very clear methodology we outlined over the fuel protest was to scrap carbon tax because that would have provided an immediate relief to farmers and contractors who desperately needed it. Instead we are now a month on from the fuel protest at a time when the cost of fuel is still very high. Green diesel is still extraordinarily high in terms of last year's figures and there has been no relief and many farmers have no idea when they will receive that relief. That is what the Government should have done. It should have removed the carbon tax. The Taoiseach's has made the point on many occasions that the carbon tax is necessary. The actual data says otherwise. Some €500 million is unspent in relation to carbon charges. Is it the Government's intention to increase carbon tax year after year, irrespective of the price of fuel?”
“Essentially, half a billion euro is left over and not needed. The NORA levy is another tax that has generated half a billion euro since 2020. That account sits in surplus in the region of a quarter of a billion euro. This is a surplus of €278 million at a time when farmers are desperately crying out for help, at a time when margins in the agri-sector have never been as tight, at a time when inputs are going sky high and revenue is falling. Is the Government misleading the House in relation to carbon taxes and the necessity that the Taoiseach outlines? If it is all so necessary, why is so much money sitting in surplus? Why is so much carbon tax remaining unspent?”
“Farmers do not use fuel evenly across the year. It is heavily concentrated in the spring and in the summer, at a time when silage needs to be cut, fields need to be ploughed and tilled and crops are harvested. Calculating the payment on a monthly average from the previous year is deeply wrong. It is systematically flawed and unfair on farmers. I want to turn to the figures around the carbon tax. The statistics released to Aontú in replies to parliamentary questions tell a very different story to the narrative that the Taoiseach's Government is selling. The Government is on track to collect an additional €200 million more this year than last year. We also know that half a billion euro was collected in carbon taxes from 2020 to 2023 that was never spent on climate action measures.”
“We are now over a month since the fuel protests and not a single cent of the Government’s fuel subsidy has been paid out to farmers and contractors. This scheme was announced to great fanfare to quell the protests, but the application process only opened in recent days. Farmers and contractors still do not know how much they will qualify for because the scheme is capped. The window for applications closes on 27 May, which is during one of the busiest times for farmers, contractors and accountants when they are buried with paperwork, basic income support for sustainability scheme, BISS, applications, VAT returns, etc. The scheme itself is deeply unfair. Applicants must produce receipts for the entire 12 months of the year. They are then paid a subsidy based on five fifths of their returns from the previous year.”