Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD has accused the government of “cashing in” on the cost-of-living crisis, after figures released to him show more tax was generated on fuel last year than ever before.
The Meath West TD has asked the Minister for Finance to state “the amount collected in tax on fuel in each of the past ten years and to date in 2025”. The details provided showed that carbon tax is now the “second largest component of tax on fuel, second only to VAT”, Deputy Tóibin said, while carbon tax receipts “doubled in five years”.
Deputy Tóibín said: “Last year the total amount taken in by the government through fuel taxes surpassed €4 Billion for the first time ever. It represents a half a billion euro of an increase on the figure for 2023. The figures show that carbon tax is now the second largest component of tax on fuel, second only to VAT.”
We can also see from the statistics that Carbon Tax receipts have doubled in five years. Shockingly Aontú was the only party in the Dáil to vote against the Climate Action Bill which paved the way for carbon tax under the last government. People around the country are really struggling with the cost of fuel, whether it’s for home-heating purposes or petrol/diesel,” he said.
Deputy Tóibín continued: “For sure we need to transition away for high carbon fuels in order to protect our climate but taxing the people into poverty is not the way to do it. The government should be easing these taxes so as to alleviate some of the pressure being experienced by families and in particular commuters around the country”.
“Many people in my county of Meath are commuting to Dublin for work every day, they don’t have another option. Instead of building a train line from Navan to Dublin, the government just keep heaping higher taxes and higher toll charges on them. It’s absolutely unforgiveable”, Deputy Tóibín said.
The reply to Peadar Tóibin from Paschal Donohue noted that: “Ireland’s taxation of fuel and electricity is governed by European Union law as set out in Directive 2003/96/EC, commonly known as the Energy Tax Directive (ETD).”
In a separate written reply in February of this year, Minister Paschal Donohue said that “the 2020 Programme for Government committed to increase the basis of carbon tax rates from €26 to €100 per tonne of carbon dioxide by 2030, and to use the additional revenue generated in specific expenditure programmes.”
“Finance Act 2020 legislated for annual increases to the carbon tax of €7.50 up until 2029 and €6.50 in 2030, when the rate will reach €100 per tonne of carbon dioxide,” he said.
“Budget 2010 announced the introduction of a carbon tax on fossil fuels in Ireland. Carbon taxation of petrol and auto-diesel came into effect in December 2009. It was extended to other liquid fuels and natural gas in 2010, and to solid fuels in 2013. Ireland’s carbon tax regime is a carbon pricing mechanism which directly links the taxation of fossil fuels to carbon dioxide emissions: a single price is set for a tonne of carbon dioxide, and this price is then applied as a tax to each fuel according to the level of carbon dioxide emitted by that fuel when it is combusted,” he added.