Sinn Féin: Remove carbon tax from green diesel
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has called for the removal of carbon tax on green diesel and home heating oil.
In her address to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Belfast this evening (Saturday, April 25), Deputy McDonald urged the government to take urgent measures to address the cost-of-living crisis.
She said that "an affordable life must be the bedrock" of the country's future.
Sinn Féin
The opposition leader said that the government is "out of touch" and has "a surplus of billions".
"We need urgent action. An emergency budget, with a substantial cut to excise to make fuel affordable, including the complete removal of carbon tax on home heating oil and green diesel," Deputy McDonald said.
Sinn Féin is calling for electricity credits worth €400, a €500 cost of disability payment, along with additional supports for those receiving social welfare, pensions, child benefit and fuel allowance.
The party also wants "immediate relief for taxpayers", including a permanent cut to the USC which Deputy McDonald said would put €500 back in every worker's pocket.
Fuel protests
In reference to the recent fuel protests across the country, the Sinn Féin leader said:
"The people who gathered from homes across Ireland with tractors, trucks and lorries, the tools of their livelihoods.
"Their protest was a backlash against fuel prices.But also something deeper - values that we Irish hold dear: respect, dignity, fairness for people who keep the country going," she said.
In his address to the Ard Fheis last evening (Friday, April 24), Sinn Féin spokesperson on finance, Pearse Doherty also called on the government to introduce an emergency mini-budget.
Deputy Doherty said the scale of the cost-of-living crisis means people “cannot wait any longer” for action.
“Across the country, families are sitting at kitchen tables trying to make the sums add up and they simply don’t.
"Heating oil is unaffordable, electricity bills have soared, and the cost of groceries continues to rise week after week.
“Working people are doing everything right, but they are still falling behind. That is the reality, and it is getting worse," he said.
Deputy Doherty said recent public protests highlighted the "depth of anger and frustration" among farmers, workers, families and small businesses.
"People are not taking to the streets lightly, they are doing so because they are not being heard," he said.
