As we speak, hundreds of truckers and hauliers are protesting outside the gates of the Dáil because they are being absolutely crucified. These are small and family businesses that are already put to the pin of their collar with rip-off insurance costs, extortionate utility bills and the domestic cost of living and sky-rocketing increases in fuel costs are the final straw for many. Hauliers are essential workers who played a huge part in keeping the show on the road during the Covid emergency. Their protest today is a reaction to the escalating cost of energy and the fuel crisis. The Government needs to show up for them now with an alleviation package that includes an overhaul of the diesel rebate scheme to make it really work for this sector.

People are under real, unbearable and ever-increasing pressure. Since last year the price of electricity is up by 16%, gas is up by 23% and home heating oil by an incredible 71%. How on earth can any family be expected to afford to heat their home with jumps like these? People are overwhelmed but the Government sits on its hands. Indeed, the Government has come along with a hike in carbon taxes which will undoubtedly make things even worse for families and businesses, including those who are demonstrating today. The carbon tax hike needs to be scrapped because it is the wrong move at the wrong time. The truth is that households face a real emergency in heating and lighting their homes and running their vehicles. The weather is getting colder and it is getting darker. Thousands of workers have now been told to work from home so people will have their heating and lighting on earlier and for longer and their bills, consequently, will go up even further. We know that workers and families have been through a very tough 18 months. Many were just getting back on their feet and just about coping. Christmas is a happy time but it is also a very expensive time of the year. People do not need the added stress of enormous energy bills landing through the door in December, January and February. The cost of staying warm is also incredibly stressful for our older people, for whom the cold weather can be especially dangerous. The increase in the fuel allowance simply will not bridge the gap and much more needs to be done.

We know that there are international factors at play in all of this and that big energy companies have passed the extraordinary global price increases on to customers. However, the Government must respond with ideas and actions to alleviate the pressure on families and businesses. Tá billí fuinnimh ag imeacht as smacht. Tá daoine agus gnóthaí faoi bhrú. Tá briseadh iomlán ag teastáil uathu. Iarraim ar an Rialtas an VAT ar bhillí fuinnimh a tharscaoileadh ar feadh trí mhí. There are things that can be done. Recently I asked the Taoiseach to engage with the European Commission and to temporarily waive VAT on energy bills for a period of three months but he refused to answer me on that occasion. I put it to him again that this is a common sense intervention that would make a real difference. It is something that has already been implemented by others in the EU seeking to protect their people from current energy hikes. Will the Taoiseach waive the VAT on energy bills for three months and give workers and families a real break?

First, energy price increases are almost totally driven by global price rises which are being felt in Europe and across the world. The rebounding of international economies has led to supply chain constraints and real pressure on gas and oil prices. That is the fundamental driver here. It is a global phenomenon and is not unique to Ireland in any shape or form.

There is a diesel rebate scheme in operation which was introduced in 2013. It offers a partial excise refund to qualifying operators when the retail price of autodiesel is relatively high. It kicks in at the pumps at around €1.23 per litre, increasing gradually to a maximum rebate of 7.5 cent when diesel reaches €1.43 per litre. In budget 2022, in light of the challenges arising from Brexit and uncertainty facing the industry, the marginal rate of compensation at prices over €1.32 was doubled up to the maximum rate of 7.5 cent per litre. That is being maintained. The Government and the Department is in constant contact with the Irish Truckers and Haulage Association and the industry relative to broader issues pertaining to the industry, including a new strategy, the requirements for the sector going forward in terms of skills, for example, and the energy prices issue. The latter is a serious issue across the board and there is no denying that. As I said, it is a global phenomenon arising from the price of raw materials, exchange rates, taxation and so on.

The carbon tax is a very small part of what is going on at the moment in terms of the global phenomenon. It is lacking in balance to throw that into the mix and to suggest that it is the main reason for the significant increase in energy prices across Europe. The carbon tax is part of the climate change agenda and while it is not popular to do things like that, it is the right thing to do for the future of younger generations in this country in terms of dealing with climate change along with a whole range of other issues. Everyone wants to pull decision making in relation to climate change and everyone, including Deputy McDonald, wants to keep deferring decisions that the very best of advice is suggesting are necessary-----

No, I do not want to defer anything. On the contrary-----

The popular thing to do is to defer because then one will not create any waves but it is not right thing to do for the future of the planet and its people. We need to protect people from rising energy prices and the carbon tax will help us to develop, for example, a really comprehensive retrofitting programme, which is ultimately the best way to reduce energy costs. A lot is happening in terms of retrofitting homes but we will have to do an awful lot more in the future in that regard.

On the VAT issue, as I said yesterday, Deputy McDonald keeps coming up with solutions that do not match what is possible but which sound good and would be popular. She came up with the idea of a zero VAT rate a couple of weeks ago but that simply cannot be done. Ireland is one of only a few EU countries that, by way of a special derogation from the general EU rules, already applies a reduced rate of VAT of 13.5% to energy prices. Under EU rules, reduced rates of VAT must be between 5% and 15% so the zero rate proposed by Deputy McDonald is not possible. Deputy McDonald keeps saying it but I am informed and advised that it is not possible.

Who informed the Taoiseach? Was it the Commission?

Under EU rules, our reduced VAT rate of 13.5% on energy prices cannot be reduced below 12%. If we were to attempt to reduce the rate to 9%, for example, for a few months, the VAT would revert to the standard rate of 23% because we would be opting out of the derogation we currently have. Again, the Deputy needs to put forward proposals that are credible and that can actually be delivered.

I have put forward two propositions to the Taoiseach. First, the carbon tax will have the effect of increasing people's bills. That is a matter of fact. I have also advanced the proposition of waiving VAT on a temporary basis for three months. The Taoiseach has knocked both of those back.

We are all well aware that the energy crisis is global. I am not laying that at the Taoiseach's feet, but it is his responsibility as Taoiseach and that of the Government to respond to the crisis for households and businesses. For example, Lorraine from the Taoiseach's neck of the woods in Cork sent me her bills. She sent me a bill from May 2021 and one from October 2021 for heating her home and in that time her bill has jumped €100. What is the Government doing for Lorraine today and coming into the winter? She has a house full of kids, three or four of them to raise, and they are struggling. There are families like that right across the State. What is the Taoiseach doing for those families, never mind his view on me or what I have to say? He is the Taoiseach. What is he going to do? Has he spoken to the Commission about the VAT option?

I thank the Deputy.

Has he explored that fully? Has he put it to the Commission that he wishes to do that? If my ideas are not runners, what are the Taoiseach's ideas? What is he doing for families and businesses now?

We all have a duty in here to be honest with people and not to put forward ideas or proposals that do not have any credibility attached to them and cannot be done.

Did the Taoiseach speak to the Commission?

That is more of the politics-----

Did the Taoiseach speak to the Commission?

Yes, we have been engaged on the matter.

When did he have the discussion?

We have had a discussion across Europe. I want to make the point – if I could do so without interruption, as is a consistent habit of the Deputy opposite-----

I am sorry. I interrupted the Taoiseach because-----

I want to make the point that we understand fully the pressures on households. The carbon tax does not apply to electricity bills. That is a separate issue. We are monitoring the situation in terms of household pressures. We did increase the fuel allowance. We did provide taxation measures in the budget to try to help people cope with the costs. The costs are global and are driven by world events-----

Lorraine is in Cork. She is not-----

-----in terms of the response to Covid. We are going to see what we can do.

What is the Taoiseach going to do for her?

Our main focus is not to try to come up with false ideas that would never carry, but rather to ask how we can get household bills down in the short term. That is where the Government's focus is. That is why we have used receipts from carbon tax to significantly increase the fuel allowance and increase the numbers of people who will be eligible for the fuel allowance, all to protect people who need protection.

We are over time.

That is what we intend to do.

That is far too little.

I ask that we could move on, with a little co-operation.