Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
143. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if he will fully honour the commitments made in the Programme for Government - Our Shared Future to ring-fence €1.5 billion of carbon tax receipts over the next ten years for agri-environment schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44089/23]
View answerAs per Sections 27, 28 & 29 of the Finance Act 2020, the carbon tax will increase by €7.50 a tonne as part of Budget 2024. The increase on transport fuels is effective from 11 October 2023, while the increase on home heating fuels will not take place until 1 May 2024.
In the Programme for Government - Our Shared Future, the Government committed to ring-fence all revenues raised from the increase in carbon tax rates for the period out to 2030, estimated to be €9.5 billion, and to allocate these amounts to:
• Ensure that the increases in the carbon tax are progressive by spending €3 billion on targeted social welfare and other initiatives to prevent fuel poverty and ensure a just transition;
• Provide €5 billion to part fund a socially progressive national retrofitting programme;
• Allocate €1.5bn of funding to encourage and incentivise farmers to farm in a greener and more sustainable way.
From Budget 2021 to date, all additional funding estimated to have been raised from the increases in the carbon tax has been allocated in full to Departments in line with these commitments on an annual basis, including expenditure allocations relating to agri-environment schemes.
This includes for Budget 2024, in which the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is being allocated €113 million funded from increases in the Carbon Tax to part-fund the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) and to continue prior commitments on green agriculture pilot projects. This will support farmers as they undertake a range of actions which will result in improved outcomes on biodiversity, climate, air and water quality. From 2020 to date, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has received €223million in carbon tax funding for these measures, including as part of Budget 2024.
Further details of carbon tax allocations are provided in ‘The Use of Carbon Tax Funds’ papers published annually on Budget Day, which are available to download on www.gov.ie .
