Paschal Donohoe refused to raise carbon tax to stop living standards from being squeezed

The budget has been branded a Father Ted-style joke by one of Ireland’s leading climate experts, who criticised the decision not to raise carbon tax.

Joseph Curtin, a member of Ireland’s advisory council on climate change, which acts as independent watchdog on the government’s climate policy, said that the move was an act of “political and national selfishness”.

Paschal Donohoe defended the decision last night saying that he wanted to work with the Dáil to agree a “long-term approach to carbon pricing”.

“A change in carbon tax means the price of diesel goes up, it also means the price of hard fuels, the price of petrol, it means the price of many things that play a very large role in people’s living standards every