Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has accused the Government of “carbon tax gouging” after he found almost a quarter of a billion euro in carbon taxes went back to the Exchequer.
The figure was revealed in a response to a Parliamentary Question by Toibin, which confirmed that a total of €578 million of carbon tax revenue (61%) raised between 2020 and 2023 was not spent on climate-action schemes. Of this, €247million – 19% – was actually unspent and went back into the state coffers.
In the PQ to the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Meath TD Toibin asked why only 61% of carbon tax went to objectives, and where the other 39% went.
The reply confirmed nearly one-fifth of the funding was surrendered back to the Exchequer, rather than being used to shield households from spiralling energy costs or to fund promised green infrastructure.
Deputy Toibin said: “These figures show carbon tax is simply another form of taxation. It’s not – in all cases – going on carbon objectives, as the government promises.
“It didn’t go to retro-fitting and solar panels and farmers in need – it went elsewhere or simply just went back into the public purse. It’s a three-card trick – the ultimate in carbon tax gouging.
“These figures undermine the case the Government is making for continuing the carbon tax, particularly in the face of the fuel protests this past week. Taxation should be on ability to pay and this simply isn’t.
“At a time when families are struggling to heat their homes, it is unacceptable that over half a billion euro of a targeted tax has been essentially swallowed by the general Exchequer.”
Deputy Tóibín explained the PQ figures saying: “Incredibly, just 61 per cent of carbon tax funding allocated over the period could be verified as being spent in-year through carbon tax-specific subheads, which are intended to track how the revenue is used.”
“Of the remaining 39 per cent, 17 per cent was spent through Department of Social Protection schemes but not recorded in carbon tax-specific accounts, while 19 per cent was surrendered back to the Exchequer. The Minister confirmed that funds returned to the Exchequer were not spent in the year they were collected, despite households facing increased fuel and energy costs arising from carbon tax increases.”
“This response confirms that a substantial portion of carbon tax revenue was either not transparently tracked as carbon-specific spending or was not spent at all in the year it was raised. Carbon tax has been repeatedly justified to the public on the basis that it is ring-fenced for climate action and social protection. These figures show that, in practice, that ring-fencing has not been as clear or as robust as claimed.”
