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CARBON TAX SHOULD increase to €80 per tonne by 2030, the Special Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action agreed today.
There were some dissenting voices to the recommendation being included in the report, with a lot of back and forth particularly between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on the issue.
Yesterday, the committee rejected a Fianna Fáil amendment which sought to remove a fixed recommendation on the level of carbon tax people will pay in the years ahead.
Tax increase
The committee’s report now contains a recommendation to government that carbon tax should increase to €80 per tonne by 2030.
It states that the committee:
…acknowledges that a carbon price trajectory to €80 per tonne by 2030 would play an important role in the State’s response to climate change.
It goes on to state that it is the committee’s view that the Minister for Finance should set out a carbon price trajectory that rises to €80 per tonne by 2030, and this should only be implemented when and evidential-based plan is in place to increase supports and incentives for climate action measures including the protection of those vulnerable to fuel poverty”.
Fuel poverty
It also sets out that before any such tax can be rolled out, the government must examine the impacts on low-income families and on those who “may not be in a position to immediately transition from fossil fuels, including the potential use of social protection mechanisms such as tax credits and welfare payments.
The report states that a review should be completed by June 2019 into the extent of fuel poverty across all cohorts of society, and a public consultation should be launched into the carbon tax increase proposals.
The results of the review and public consultation should form the basis of a draft policy paper, which will be submitted by the end of June 2019.
Row over the tax
Yesterday, there was a row between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil members over the plan to increase carbon tax, with a series of votes being held.
Chair Hildegarde Naughten described it as “stumbling block”, with Fianna Fáil submitting an amendment to the committee’s report seeking to “acknowledge” a carbon tax increase rather than expressly supporting it or specifying the cost.
Fine Gael’s Marcella Corcoran Kennedy sought to have the trajectory cost of carbon tax included in the report and set out in legislation this year.
It is understood Fianna Fáil had serious concerns with the proposal to quadruple carbon tax over the next 11 years, with the issue being discussed at length at the party’s parliamentary party on Tuesday.
The government’s advisory body, the Climate Change Advisory Council, has strongly recommended Ireland incrementally increase the tax to €80 per tonne by 2030 in order to reduce the country’s rising carbon emissions.
The Fine Gael members accused Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley of attempting to “water down” the report.
Providing certainty to people
TD Martin Heydon said the cost trajectory gives people “certainty” about what they will have to pay, but was quick to add that it is not a revenue raising tax, and is merely being introduced to change people’s behaviours.
He said if the specific carbon tax target was removed from the report, the headline would be that the climate change committee were not “brave enough” to take action, just a few weeks after thousands took to the streets calling for politicians to step up.
Dooley said that he is in favour of a carbon tax and of the recommendations from the advisory committee, which placed the cost at €80 per tonne.
However, he argued that people need certainty around the supports that will be offered in the way of a rebate, and to ensure this tax does not have a negative impact on their wallet.
He said the text of the report does not make it clear what the tax will be spent on, or how the needs of people, who cannot afford the tax, will be supported.
Dooley said he had particular concerns about the “least cost pathway” mention in relation to the roll out of the tax.
Fianna Fáil’s Jack Chamber said that this could be used as a “licence for Leo” to introduce the tax as he sees fit.
“I’ll not take a lecture from anyone in Fine Gael on climate change,” said Dooley, who hit out at Fine Gael for their “panic attack” over rolling out carbon tax.
Corcoran Kennedy said she welcomed Dooley’s comments that he accepts a carbon tax is necessary, but added that he “doesn’t want to put a price on it”.
Dooley said that at all times he has been responsible in relation to climate change, adding that Fianna Fáil has always been interested in tackling climate change “long before it was fashionable”.
Last year, the Taoiseach committed to increasing the carbon tax in the Budget, but rolled back on the decision, increasing the VAT instead. There have been concerns within political circles about the increase in carbon tax as people speculate about a general election this year.
Bríd Smith, who sits on the committee, said she was unhappy with “ordinary people” having to pay tax increases, and criticised the other members of the committee for not supporting proposals to roll out free public transport.
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Keep it up. Never tire of hearing about these jihadi lunatics getting a kicking.
Who funds IS? Where do they get their arms and supplies from in such poor countries?
Any answer to that question would be considered a conspiracy.
There are two types of muslem, Shia and Sunni.
This is how it breaks out on the map:
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/6670/1514/1600/sunni_shia_map.jpg
You’ll notice that despite being a minority generally the Shia are a majority in Iraq.
The northern part of Iraq is Kurdish and that’s an independent state now in all but name, it has regional autonomy even under Saddam. So the rest of Iraq is just Shia and Sunni and the former are the majority, but the latter was Saddams people, they were Sunni.
Al Qaeda are sunni (though they hated Saddam) and so are ISIS. They get their arms and money from radical rich princes in Saudi Arabia, the royal family there is enormous, thousands of members and they are all loaded, they funnel money to them, as do wealthy Sunnis from elsewhere and sometimes arms dealers with no ideology.
Sunnis ruled Iraq, through Saddam, for years. The US millitary brass told George Bush that they needed to invade with at least half a million troops to secure the country afterwards, esp since they were gonna disband the Iraqi armed forces and police. Bush thought they could do it on the cheap so only sent in around 200 000. Then Bushs envoy Paul Bremer the colonial administrator of Iraq disbanded their security services and chaos ensued where the borders were like a sieve and radical militia men from all over the place started to pour in.
Now they all want THEIR group to be dominant , they are trying to turn Iraq into what South Vietnam became and overthrow it replacing it with a new radical Sunni state. ISIS are crazier than AlQadea by far, the latter even said they want nothing to do with them.
They get funded by the US Government.
Its nit a conspiracy any more. Do a little research.
They are basically the latest in television mainstream media scaremongering terrorist organisations that Western Governments want to use in order to draft in new security measures.
Basically Al Qaeda on steroids. Watch out for new up and coming dates particularly that contain triplicated 7 numbers. EG 7th September (Septem Latin 7) 2+0+1+7 = 7 or 777. all other false flags had hints of 777. Even the Twin Towers…where 343 firemen died…343=7x7x7
7th Sept 2+0+1+4 = 777
Poe’s law indeed.
I don’t watch TMZ for financial market news, you shouldn’t watch infowars for political news. I feel so sorry for you people. You genuinely believe whatever nonsense your conspiracy cult leaders tell you. Confirmation bias is a powerful thing.
Some studies suggest it’s a lack of self esteem that drives you to believing these whacko theories. I’d be morto. Of course, I’m just a paid CIA, NSA, NEOCON, ILLUMINATI shill right? Whatever helps you sleep at night.
Dave Davis I would be more concerned to what cult these world leaders are into…
Everywhere they have set foot has left nothing but death, destruction and misery. We will soon witness this same cult invading Syria… turning it into another hell hole.. You can be damn sure once NATO get in there there won’t be much left of the place…
And here was me thinking July was the 7th month and September was the 9th…
Frank, what does the zero stand for?
Btw 2+2+2+1 = 7. Amazing!
Avina Laaf .. Yes July 17 had its fair share of triplicated 7′s in MH17 which has now fallen flat on its face as a FAILED False Flag.. people are wising up to all this nonsense from War mongering Western Governments particularly the United States..
I am sure yourself and Declan Noonan know all about the Numbers..
Boeing 777 Built 17 inauguration flight 17 years to the date bogus “crashed”on 17/07 2+0+1+4 = 777
If you read my last post September is the 7th month going by the Roman Calendar…
There are two “sevens” hidden in the date being the 250th date of the year 2+5+0 = 7
and also 115 days remaining to the end 1+1+5 = 7..
As I mentioned before on 9/11 you tripped over the number of 11′s in the date.. This is how these psychopaths operate.. they believe in the power of numbers.. 777 being perfection.
selling Oil is the big one, looting banks, seizing weapons from the Army, entire bases of them in fact. Extorting businesses in the area, taxing people, selling food, the area is arid but irrigation makes it a large producer of Grain, one of the largest in the middle east.
It is all quite obvious where they get their money from but it is does not fit in with the leftist view that these simple people would be all happy and lovely but for the machinations of Western powers.
Let them overrun Sulaimen Bek and give these animals a clear understanding that their behaviour is not accepted as anything but deranged !
Ha!
It seems like I.S actually ISN’T.
A really good article in the Guardian today. Sums up the western approach to Islamic extremism. They are full of rhetoric bout the war on terror yet they are best friends with the biggest backers of extremism in the world. Hypocrites!
Let me get my tin foil hat on for a minute…right….I really think this is bang on the money, but to add to it, or perhaps just argue the point that, they are not hypocritical, just extremely disingenuous about this with their own populations, the argument I make is that after the Iraqi WMD fallacy the game was basically up for their dirty little wars, they needed to carry on though with a few more countries needing toppled (see: General Wesley Clark, 7 nations in 5 years), but how could they find the means to justify these wars to their public, they couldn’t so there had to be a change in tact again, enter proxy armies, crippling sanctions, civil unrest among other things (see: Seymour Hersh, the redirection). There was nothing spontaneous about the Arab Spring, it was planned years in advance, there’s some very clever scriptwriters in Washington I believe, Zbrigniew Brzezinski (see Soviet-Afghan war, pictured with OBL, a CIA asset at the time, who knows maybe he remained so the rest of his life…). Ok, time to take the hat off.
Joe, your comments are always dishonest.
Ryan, while what you say is true, it does tend to leave a distorted view of Sunnis in general. Most Sunnis would have nothing in common with ISIS.
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