Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-05
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Brian Stanley (IND), Laois

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply. He said the Government will make an informed evidence-based response. That is fine but the evidence is there. There are in excess of 320,000 households in serious arrears and we are only talking about electricity there. It is one in four is in arrears with gas. There is a real problem. I have constituents contacting me - people who are on middle incomes - who just cannot make it all go around. I am sure the rest of the Members are hearing this as well.
I wish to highlight one extra factor. Progress is being made with retrofitting but it is slow enough. Some 75% of homes in the midlands and in counties like Laois are basically on solid fuel or oil. That tells you they need an energy upgrade. They are caught because they have high energy costs. There is a particular problem here for people in County Laois and in the midlands. I know they cannot be targeted specifically but there is a real issue. There is an immediate problem. I am not asking the Government to thrown money all over the place. I am asking it to do a targeted one-off payment to help those people and householders who are really struggling and cannot make ends meet at the moment. I am asking the Government to introduce that one-off payment to help them, people with disabilities and low- and middle-income workers.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-05