Carol Nolan urges scrapping carbon tax, warns of rural harm

Minister, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important issue, the carbon tax, and the rural independent group that I'm part of has been the only group that has been consistently opposed to the carbon tax. We didn't enter into playing any games or calling for a stop put to the increase, we called for the whole carbon tax to be scrapped, because it's a very unjust tax that is going to cripple families. For instance, this year alone it will cost the average household €520 on top of everything else going up, it will cost farmers €600 this year alone, which will increase. That's very, very unfair for people who are already struggling to get by. There's just a serious injustice here, and surely you can see that. Many of you are good rural TDs, strong TDs that represent your constituents very well in your constituencies. But there is an injustice with this whole thing. It could be done much better. I mean, if we look at the programme for government, it makes claims about trying to achieve climate action targets. It makes claims about afforestation and planting 8,000 hectares a year. And also, you know, rolling out the micro generation schemes, farmers are still not able to get onto the grid, and that's causing frustration. But you're punishing the ordinary Irish people, and you're not even achieving your own climate action targets. Which is very unfair. And I don't think it's going to be accepted at all. I think we need to go back and see what else can be done, and I'd ask you to do that. There is a fairer way here. And certainly I believe that, you know, the extremism that's coming from the green policies, they're just so detached. And listening to what some of the green TDs are saying, and indeed some of these climate action experts, they're coming out with all sorts of nonsense. They'd want to educate themselves about rural Ireland, because they really do not understand how rural Ireland operates, and how the policies impact on people. And this is certainly one that is going to disproportionately impact on rural people. And that's why I'm part of this group, because we stand up for the rural people and try to do our best. We try to be honest and straight. We're completely opposed to the carbon tax, and we'll stay opposed to it. We won't be doing any U-turns, and that's the way it is. But we would ask you and appeal to you, and the other rural TDs in Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael, to please put an end to this. There is a better way forward, that all targets can be achieved in a reasonable manner, without punishing people. And as bad as things are now, there is no hope of improvement, unfortunately, given the provisions of the Finance Act 2020, which legislated for annual increases in the rate of carbon tax out to 2030, which will bring the tax rate to €100 per tonne. That is simply not sustainable. It is a smash and grab of people's hard-earned incomes, and it needs to be abandoned. Even the ERSI, which is handsomely funded by government, recognised in a paper last year, that the strategy to implement carbon taxes, which increases the price of carbon-intensive commodities, will lead to many households being worse off in an economic sense. In particular, lower-income households, who spend a large share of their budget on energy and other emissions-intensive products. To offset this in Ireland, the ERSI say that a proportion of carbon tax revenues is used to finance transfers. But this is just needlessly creating a problem, only to then go and develop extraordinary measures to solve it. It makes no sense. Government often ask how we can fill the gap in terms of the proposed loss of carbon tax revenue. That is very clear and not half as complex or insolvable as government would have us believe. We could save hundreds of millions, if not billions, by radically revising the measures contained in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Amendment Bill 2021. I have repeatedly highlighted the fact that according to an analysis conducted by the IMF, the cost of implementing the Government's Bill will cost £20 billion each year until 2030. This country is going to be destroyed economically. It is going to be ruined and there will be no recovery. I am calling on you to just recognise that that is a fact. That comes from the IMF, not the Rural Independent Group. All of this is for a Bill that explicitly deprioritises employment. It is incomprehensible and must be rejected before the irreparable damage is done and the costs skyrocket. Then, of course, we have the excellent and detailed series of analysis performed by the Irish Climate Science Forum, who, as they say themselves, seek to bring rationality to the current climate debate. The Irish Climate Science Forum seeks to ground the projections in less hysteria and more in solid, verifiable evidence on how we should be responding to mitigate whatever climate threats may emerge. Are members aware, for example, that according to Professor Michael Kelly of Cambridge University, the practical challenges of the UK pursuing its 2050 net zero carbon ambition will exceed £3 trillion? And that the target was simply unattainable? Well, at least they copped on and realised that. A parallel study for his home country, New Zealand, led to a similar conclusion, as did Professor Kelly's recent analysis with respect to Ireland's climate strategy. According to Professor Kelly, the cost to Ireland, out to 2050, in pursuit of its zero carbon agenda, will comfortably exceed £375 billion, with a workforce required comparable in size to the health sector. Thank you. Now, we have people languishing on hospital trolleys and waiting for operations. That's not right. It's just not right. And I would ask you to go back to Cabinet with this information. Thank you, Deputy. Thank you, Deputy. Can you see the...? He put me up to the cabinet on the board, and I'm Hawking. Oh, it's just notرك. Oh, your truck is what we are up to.