- Price caps needed to tackle energy inflation
- Withdraw carbon tax and reduce VAT for households
People Before Profit has called on the government to use its legal powers to impose a maximum unit cost for electricity, gas and home heating oil.
It is also calling for a withdrawal of the carbon tax as this indirect tax hits poorer families. The party has also suggest that a further way to alleviate costs would be to reduce VAT on household energy bills, noting that the Spanish government has cut VAT from 21% to 10%.
In a statement, Richard Boyd Barrett TD said:
“Many poor families are facing a terrible situation of ‘eat or heat’. Yet this government is doing little to alleviate the crisis, claiming that it is an international problem.
“Under the Section 61 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007, they can issue emergency orders in relation to supply of electricity, gas and home heating oil. Under Section 62 of the same act they can fix maximum price orders.
“The giant energy companies are making huge profits from this crisis, with Shell paying out €6 billion to its shareholders. The government should put the interests of its own citizens ahead of corporate profits and impose a price cap.
“The government should also recognise the folly of imposing a carbon tax as a method of encouraging a shift to green energy. The simple fact is that this indirect tax hits the poor more. They are not in a position to gather together savings to take advantage of grants for renewable energy.
“Instead of carbon taxes, we need a massive state-led retrofitting programme that enables consumers to switch to renewables. Such a programme needs to be funded by taxes on the big corporate users of carbon-based energy.”