Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward is attempting to get government TDs to support Sinn Féin’s legislation to remove carbon tax from home heating oil “for as long as prices remain high.”
With even the opposition split on such a move (Labour and Social Democrats are unlikely to vote against something that gets rid of carbon tax), Ward is now pinning his hopes on government TDs.
Ward was speaking after Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty announced that the party will introduce emergency legislation in the Dáil this week in a calculated move to put pressure on the government before the Budget.
Ward said it was “unacceptable” that the government has “failed to remove a single cent of carbon tax from home heating oil despite sharp increases in costs for ordinary people.
The Dublin Mid-West TD said “for months, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the independents have stood by while workers, families and pensioners who rely on home heating oil have borne the full force of rising energy costs.”
“Home heating oil has been one of the fuels hardest hit by soaring prices, yet the government has stubbornly refused to remove a single cent of carbon tax from its price,” he said.
Ward stated, “the government needs to wake up to the reality facing households and start putting workers and families first.”
The Sinn Féin Dublin spokesperson said “it will not be lost on the public that the higher they pay for home heating oil, the more money the state takes in from hard-working people through taxes like VAT.”
“The result of that is some households now can’t even afford a refill, so it is far too late for half measures or tinkering around the edges. We need to see the carbon tax completely removed on home heating oil while prices remain high,” he said.
“The government must support Pearse Doherty’s legislation to act decisively by removing carbon tax from home heating oil for as long as prices remain high.”