'Stop the carbon tax', Kildare representative urges government

A Kildare political representative has urged the government to drop the carbon tax.

It follows after An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that the govt's latest package will 'more than offset' the cost of the increase in carbon tax that is due to kick in on May 1.

People Before Profit’s (PBP) Kildare Rep, Paul Mahon, is calling on the government to abolish the carbon tax.

According to Mr Mahon, although the stated goal of this policy is to raise the cost of living and incentivise people to switch to alternatives, he insisted that this 'overlooks the fact' that switching to alternatives, such as retrofitting and electric vehicles, '(which) is itself extremely costly.'

He explained: "The proposed retrofit scheme requires people to borrow up to €25,000 in order to complete the retrofit with the state picking up the other €25,000.

"Renovations of this scale are way beyond the means of the vast majority of people and given the number of years it would take to realize the cost benefits, many would hardly see it in their lifetime.

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"That, coupled with the shortage of workers to complete the work mean labour and related costs, are likely to increase which will have to be paid for by the homeowners."

Mr Mahon further said that the scheme will also do nothing for the hundreds of thousands renting 'who will just have to suffer from cold homes and increased heating and fuel costs.'

He continued: "If the costs imposed by the carbon taxes leave people unable to save to afford alternatives, then this measure is completely counterproductive.

"Moreover, as noted by Dr Cara Augustenborg, people are already responding to the increases in energy prices resulting from massive inflation, which makes the carbon tax seem even more unnecessary.

'MORE CARROT AND LESS STICK IS REQUIRED'

"Rural Ireland is so badly served by public transport or and cycling/pedestrian infrastructure, the car is the only mode of transport for many, so the carbon tax is a direct attack on the quality of life of people in towns and villages across Ireland.

"Yes we need to wean ourselves off carbon, we need to make radical changes, but a just transition means making the alternatives available and incentivising people to switch so that switching is the easy option: more carrot and less stick is required," he concluded.

In related news, PBP notably faced controversy last week after its members refused to applaud Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky's address to the Irish govt.