Families are being crushed by this energy crisis. Small businesses are going to the wall. Carers cannot drive to mind the older people they are looking after. Workers cannot fill their car tanks, even just to get to work, and farmers' costs are spiking at a time when their produce prices are falling. At the heart of this crisis are Government taxes, and no other political party is calling this out. For sure, the war in Iran has significantly accelerated the hardship, but the Government was already taking 60% to 65% out of petrol and diesel before the war. There were 320,000 people in energy arrears in this country before the war, and Irish electricity prices were the highest in Europe. Behind all the mealy-mouthed words from Government today, the painful reality for people in this country is that the Government is going to keep tax-gouging families. Our parliamentary questions have shown that the Government took €4.1 billion in fuel taxes in 2024. Carbon taxes are at a record level, topping out at €1 billion. Even today, the Government's plans are to raise carbon tax on 1 May. That is a savagely damaging policy against the people of Ireland. In this crisis, the Government has already collected €120 million in extra taxes in the last four weeks. It is quids in with the crisis so far, and its increase on carbon taxes for the rest of the year will bring in €160 million. Those two together are more than €135 million that it is spending on this. We are asking the Government to reduce carbon taxes now and let people live.

Sentiment score: -0.31