In 2020, people got 16.5 gallons of fuel for €100. Today, that same 16.5 gallons of fuel costs €139.42. In 2020, per €100 of fuel, the Government took €45 in tax on diesel and €50 in tax on petrol. Today, the Government is taking €62.74 in tax on diesel and €69.71 in tax on petrol. For a gallon of fuel, which is the same product we are paying for and getting today, the Government has now increased tax on 16.5 gallons of fuel by €17.74 for diesel and €29.71 for petrol. Even though we are getting the same product, we are paying €40 more in tax per €100, but the Government is taking €29.71 extra in taxes on petrol and €17.74 extra on diesel.

This has a knock-on effect on food producers using the transport network throughout the country. In the hospitality sector, the VAT rate was at 9%. We then had an increase in the minimum wage, which I welcomed. However, the Government put the VAT rate for the hospitality sector back up to 13.5%, which left people with no other option than to raise the price of their product. That sector could have absorbed the increased costs if the VAT rate was left at 9%. That could have absorbed the increases but the Government put 4.5% VAT back on. This means that while the cost of someone's lunch was €10 at one time, that person is now paying €15 or €15.50 for the same lunch to absorb the cost due to the change in the tax rate.

I use a business model for everything I do. I want businesses to survive. Common sense tells us that if a measure such as raising a wage is brought in, it has to be absorbed somewhere. By putting up taxes, however, it dilutes or gets rid of the wage increase that was given in the first place. The minimum wage was increased but as the price of the product people were trying to buy in order to live also increased, the Government created inflation. By reducing the tax rate, however, the Government will get the same tax margin back. As the cost of the product has gone up, the Government has less tax to take. Reducing the tax rate means people get more for their money. That is common sense. That is a business model.

People are in crisis in the country. They are working every day and hour to do what? To pay extra taxes. Will the Government please look at reducing the VAT rate for the hospitality sector to 9%? It can be left at 13.5% for a bedroom stay, but it should be reduced for the working person.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, which has a number of elements. One is the petrol and diesel excise rates and VAT on hospitality is another. The Government is acutely aware of the impacts of energy price inflation and the broader cost-of-living crisis on households and businesses. Perhaps the Deputy did not get an opportunity to dwell on the work that the Government has done. I would argue the Government has acted decisively to lessen the impacts of inflation.

That includes €12 billion in supports to date to citizens to try to offset the costs of living caused by the energy crisis consequential on the war in Ukraine and the post-Covid period. In budget 2024 alone, it provided for €2.7 billion in once-off cost of living measures, including targeted welfare interventions, electricity account credits or energy credits, reduced VAT on electricity and gas and reduced public transport fares. In 2022, we also provided for temporary reductions in the excise rates of 21% and 16% per litre on petrol and diesel. The good news is that, thanks be to God, fuel prices have fallen considerably from the highs of 2022, when a litre of petrol and diesel cost between €2.10 and €2.20, compared with between €1.69 and €1.77 today, and a barrel of crude oil on global markets costs $84, well below the highs of more than $110 experienced during much of 2022. Consumer inflation has eased from a peak of 9.6% in 2022 to 1.5% in June. All of this is positive news.

With regard to the summer economic statement, we are proposing to put €1.4 billion aside for tax and we are looking at expenditure increases, year on year, of about 6.9%. That is very significant, by any yardstick. We have provided for tax reductions over the last four years of Government. The preference of the three parties in the Government, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, is to maintain a focus on the personal taxation front. Wages have increased. If we do not do anything with the personal taxation framework, essentially, we would be taxing people. However, to enable us to keep pace with wages and make sure people are not taxed could cost up to €1.1 billion for that alone. We are being warned, left, right and centre, not to overheat the economy so choices will have to be made, but the preference of the three parties is clearly on the personal taxation front. The cost of a full-scale VAT reduction would be about €750 million on top of the €1.4 billion, or if we were to try to do food alone, it is estimated at about €550 million. These are the choices that the Government will have to make.

In 2020, it was €120 per sq. ft. to build a house and, today, it is anywhere from €180 to €200 per sq. ft. Given taxes at 23% on a 2,000 sq. ft. house, the Government was taking €4,600 in VAT but is now taking €9,200 because the base cost of that house has gone from €240,000 plus VAT to €380,000 plus VAT. It is the same house but the Government is taking more tax.

What is happening is that people in this country work and they pay taxes, but they do not qualify for anything. What I am looking for is a reward for somebody who works. I am talking about people who go out and work, pay for their mortgage, pay for their house and are no burden to the State. These people work for the vulnerable people, for the people who cannot work and they have no problem what. All they want is a reward system so they have something left at the end of the week and can say “I have something.” They do not complain but there is no reward for a person in this country who works. That is what I am trying to say to the Tánaiste. They are taxed out of existence, no matter what way they go.

Come on. The Government is reducing tax for workers. We are reducing income tax for workers and we reduced the universal social charge last year. The focus has been on reducing income tax to give people more disposable income and enable them to spend at their discretion. That has been the focus of the Government over the last four years. We have also reduced the cost of services in terms of transport and education, and the free books scheme has been a tremendous help to parents with regard to school expenditure. We have abolished hospital admission charges and have dramatically increased access to GP care - the biggest increase in access to GP care ever - which, again, reduces costs. The drugs payment scheme cost has reduced. There is a whole range of reductions in the cost of public services parallel with consistent reductions in personal taxation.

There are higher taxes.

The Deputy seems to want us not to reduce the tax for workers but, rather, reduce it elsewhere. I do not know whether he believes we should have a €2 billion tax package or a €2.5 billion tax package. He needs to specify what his priorities are.

I want a reward for somebody who works.

Our priority is to reduce taxes for workers to enable workers to have more disposable income to spend on services at their discretion and on what their families want to prioritise.