The Junior Minister with responsibility for rural Ireland says reports show that lower income people won’t be worse off thanks to the carbon tax.
It comes as Clare’s Fine Gael TD believes ‘revised proposals’ will be presented by the Environment Minister on plans to ban the sale of turf in commercial settings in the the near future.
The Dáil will vote on a Sinn Féin motion seeking to scrap upcoming restrictions on the commercial sale of turf this evening.
The proposals would essentially ban the sale and distribution of turf from September outside of small communities.
Environment Minister Eamon Ryan has been under fire from his coalition colleagues, including those in Clare, over the move – which he insists will not impact those who cut their own turf or gift or sell it on to neighbours in small rural areas.
Sinn Fein’s Claire Kerrane, who represents the Galway-Roscommon constituency, says the issue has become a ‘pantomime’ but for people in rural Ireland it’s a huge concern.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Rural and Community Development has been responding to opposition criticism of the government’s climate plans.
Green TD Joe O’ Brien says the financial impact of climate measures will actually help those who are less well off.
Eamon Ryan is set to meet with members of the Fine Gael and Fianna Fail parliamentary parties again on the matter after holding an initial briefing with them yesterday.
Clarecastle-based Fine Gael Deputy Joe Carey, who was at his party’s meeting with the Minister yesterday and voiced concerns about the proposals, says a solution needs to be found quickly.
