The people of County Mayo and the rest of the country are desperate in terms of the costs of fuel. This Government has acted with complete impunity when it comes to accountability. First, it blamed the protesters. Then it blamed the media for covering the protesters and threatened an investigation. Then it blamed Trump. Earlier, I heard Ministers blaming international markets, international pricing structures, etc., but who made us reliant on international markets? It was the Government in terms of its policy. The previous Government, of which the Minister of State was a member, banned oil and gas exploration. It stripped away any ability for us to be energy independent. It created this dependency and then, when prices escalated, it blamed the dependency that it created. That is a fact. It is time that this Government accepted accountability, not just for the mishandling of the crisis but also for the situation in which we find ourselves in terms of our energy reliance. The fact is that the infrastructure for renewable energy, as the Minister of State well knows, is not there at the moment. In relation to the escalating costs, it was the previous Government's policy to actually drive up costs. The Government introduced the carbon tax. It was designed to drive the cost of energy. The Government did it in such a way that it was legislated for and baked in several years ago irrespective of the costs in the future. That is why the Minister of State's comments about carbon tax last week were tone deaf. The carbon tax was designed to try to move people away from fossil fuels. If you are a farmer in Mayo who is seeking to spread slurry or fertiliser, or cut silage, you do not have an alternative. The Minister of State should know that. This escalation of prices has unravelled the Government's policy on carbon tax and its desire for high energy costs. That is the truth of the matter. It is the Minister of State's desire and that of his Government. It is time that they wake up, accept it and change that policy because it is hurting rural Ireland and the Irish economy. Who knows where the cost of fuel is going to go over the next number of months and years? I opposed and voted against that Bill. The reason I did so was because I will not vote for a carbon tax into the future. It is wrong to penalise our Irish citizens who have no alternative. The taxation of fuel is incredibly excessive. The vast majority of what we pay is on Government taxation. Over the past ten years, the Government has taken in €35 billion. In 2020 alone, it took in €4 billion and that tax take is rising, year on year. The Minister of State made an argument for carbon tax but he should know that reliable and regular public transport does not exist in Mayo. If you want to commute from Ballyhaunis or Ballinrobe to Castlebar or Westport on a daily basis, you cannot do so. The Minister of State knows that. Is it right and just that the farmers, hauliers and contractors are, in the main, paying the carbon tax that is going, in many cases, to retrofits, etc.?
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We need to have a conversation on this. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, came out with a report recently that outlined there is a minimal difference-----
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-----between an A-rated house and a G-rated house in terms of energy consumption and yet Fine Gael councillors in Mayo are seeking to spend-----
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-----over €2 million on a council chamber. I heard a councillor last week justifying this-----
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