Vol. 576 No. 6
70 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Finance his views on the case for tax neutrality to accompany carbon taxation in order that the proceeds of the new tax are used to reduce the tax burden on other resource-friendly items. [30126/03]
In my budget speech in December 2002, I said that there would be full consultation with interested parties on the design of a carbon energy tax.
In July this year, I commenced this consultation process and made available a carbon energy tax consultation paper prepared by my Department. This consultation paper was designed to facilitate discussions on the introduction and design of the carbon energy tax while recognising that there are divergent views on the issue. The paper gives a concise overview of the issues relevant to consideration of the proposal including revenue recycling or "tax neutrality". Submissions in response to the paper were invited from interested parties to be received in this Department by 30 September 2003, but extra time has been given where requested by organisations to complete their submissions. To date, 116 submissions have been received by my Department in response to the carbon taxation consultation paper.
