Energy Prices
Dail Éireann — 2023-02-28
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Ossian Smyth (GP), Dún Laoghaire

My Department will bring before the Government proposals for a windfall tax to be approved by the Cabinet in the coming weeks. Primary legislation will be required to bring that through. The measure will impose taxes on unfair profits which were generated not just by people who own oil or gas reserves but anybody generating electricity from sources other than gas who unfairly profited from the very significant increase in the price of electricity. That could be wind farms or people generating electricity from solar or other sources. They will be taxed in such a way that a maximum price will be put on the amount for which they are able to sell their electricity to the grid. We were guided by the EU that that could be €180 per megawatt hour - in other words, 18 cent per unit. In fact, we will impose a cap of 12 cent per unit, and we are proposing a 75% take in excess profits from those who own oil or gas reserves. We will legislate for that in the coming weeks and all that money will be ring-fenced for electricity consumers.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2023-02-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-02-28