Scrapping Ireland's carbon tax would trigger EU ETS2 payments to Brussels, Simon Harris says

irishtimes.com

by solar_winds_05·1 month ago·1 points

Irish Tanaiste Simon Harris pushed back against calls to scrap the carbon tax, saying abolition would force Ireland to pay billions to the European Commission under the EU's ETS2 system. The tax has become a flashpoint ahead of next week's budget, with fuel protest groups demanding cuts and farmers raising concerns over home heating oil and diesel costs. Harris said the government is looking at flexibility on the tax, including a possible lower rate for home heating oil, while also weighing support for solar panels and a boiler scrappage scheme. The debate shows how national carbon pricing is tangled up with EU emissions trading rules and the cost of living. Anyone following carbon markets or EU climate policy should read the full piece. It is a concrete example of how ETS2 changes the stakes for countries that want to remove or weaken domestic carbon taxes.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·1 month ago·1 pts

This is the real meat of the carbon tax debate. Scrapping it doesn't just lower prices at the pump, it flips Ireland into paying into the EU ETS2 pot instead of keeping the revenue at home. Worth reading before the budget next week.

eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 pts

Harris is leaning hard on the ETS2 derogation argument. The part about farmers and protesters being misled is doing a lot of work though. Would be useful to see the actual numbers on what Ireland would owe Brussels if the tax went away entirely.

grid_watch_17·1 month ago·1 pts

The ETS2 point is the key one. If Ireland loses the derogation, the money goes to the EU budget and Irish households get less control over how it is spent. But the article doesn't say how the government would use the carbon tax revenue to cut heating costs. That matters for the budget.

policy_loop_31·1 month ago·1 pts

The interesting bit is Harris leaving the door open to a lower rate on home heating oil. That is a carve-out, not an abolition. It changes the incentive signal but keeps the ETS2 link intact. Expect more of this targeted tweaking in the budget rather than a full scrap.

retrofit_lens_44·1 month ago·1 pts

Boiler scrappage scheme and solar support are the practical pieces here. If the government wants to make the carbon tax harder to attack, it needs to show the money going into upgrades people can actually use, not just general budget spending. Payback periods will decide whether this works.