he imposition of extra carbon taxes will not just hit those least able to afford heating fuel but will lead to substantial jobs losses especially in border areas.

This was stated by Independent MEP Marian Harkin when she accused the government of bringing austerity measures to a new punitive level especially for the poorest in the community.

“This astounding level of increase in the cost of coal and briquettes is being cynically imposed at the beginning of summer and it is no exaggeration to say that when winter comes in, it will have the most serious of consequences including threats to life especially for the elderly”, she said.  This tax had nothing to do with European Union legislation as it was purely an Irish government policy, the Independent MEP said.

“The second issue that arises from this ill timed measured is the problem of the movement of coal and briquettes across the border which threatens the livelihoods of fuel merchants in the south”, she said.  No equivalent tax was levied in Northern Ireland or Scotland and even without this extra tax southern fuel retailers were already at a severe price disadvantage with imported fuels, she said.

“Fuels coming across the border from Northern Ireland and Scotland have a major price advantage and this is certain to result in job losses in southern retailers who are paying rates to local authorities and tax to the Irish government”, she said.

Coal coming from Scotland with content which breached Irish regulations was freely available along the border areas, she said, and there were no resources provided by government to monitor and prevent the retailing of deficient products, Marian Harkin said.

She called for an immediate decision not to impose an extra austerity measure on already hard pressed citizens and to take the steps necessary to prevent the importation of fuels which are not subject to existing taxes and which, in some cases, actually had illegal and damaging content.