Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said the incoming hike in carbon tax will only serve to put people under more pressure without changing their behaviour.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Ms McDonald questioned how much progress has been made on climate change amid "all the conferences and big announcements".
"The answer to that is very little," she added.
Ms McDonald said people are dreading their energy bills.
"It is not going to change behaviour," she said. "We have argued there has to be a moratorium."
She added that the State cannot "penalise ordinary households with hikes in carbon taxes", while "rolling out the red carpet for data centres that guzzle energy and are afforded significant tax write offs".
Sinn Féin leader @MaryLouMcDonald says that a #CarbonTax will only put people under more financial pressure and that it won't change people's behaviour
Rebroadcast at 23:40 on @rteone #TWIP #RTEPolitics pic.twitter.com/RP6QOIHc3n— The Week in Politics (@rtetwip) October 31, 2021
Speaking at her party's Ard Fheis yesterday, Ms McDonald said "the writing is on the wall for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael".
“Things were bad enough when these parties pretended to oppose each other. But by god things have gone to the dogs since the boys clubbed together. They have no answers to the big questions that affect your life.
“They are out of touch, out of ideas and out of time. So, let’s call time on their century-old stranglehold on power, their divisive politics of the haves and have nots.
“Their cynical politics that seeks to normalise a housing crisis.
“They say change is impossible. We’ll never accept that.”
