Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-03-18 ============================================================ Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht an cheist. Sula fhreagraím í, ba mhaith liom mo chomhghairdeas a roinnt le roinnt Éireannaigh óga as éachtaí den scoth ar bhain siad amach ag an deireadh seachtaine agus le déanaí. I thank Deputy McDonald for her question. Before I answer it, I want to acknowledge the very considerable achievement by Irish young people over the weekend. In particular I commend and acknowledge the success and outstanding achievement of Jessie Buckley in winning an Academy Award, which is a remarkable achievement for the young Kerry woman. I also acknowledge the role of the Irish rugby team in winning the Triple Crown. Deputy McDonald has raised a very important point. At the heart of it, what it reveals is that once a war starts people are unaware as to what the consequences of that war will be. We can now see, however, that the cost of oil has risen quite considerably and a barrel of crude oil today is in the region of over $100 per barrel. That is a very significant consequence and it is impacting consumers not just in Ireland but throughout the world. As has been indicated by the Taoiseach in the United States, and by the Tánaiste, the Government will respond to this. However, what we are not going to do is engage in a kneejerk response just for the purpose of being seen to do something immediately. Instead, the Government will consider the situation and what has been indicated by the Taoiseach is that most probably we will look at the issue of excise duties for the purpose of cutting them to take pressure off consumers. It is also important to note that any measures that are going to be introduced we hope will be targeted at individuals who need them the most. I have to say I was very pleased to see that Sinn Féin's finance Minister in Northern Ireland, John O'Dowd, has adopted this position of the Irish Government. I read yesterday that he said when Sinn Féin in government is going to introduce measures to alleviate the cost of fuel in Northern Ireland, they will be targeted at those in most need. Similarly, this will be the case here. They will be targeted measures to ensure that those in most need are the ones who can recover from them. I noted that in her question Deputy McDonald did not mention the constant narrative of Sinn Féin, which is that we need to cut the carbon tax. I welcome the fact she recognises the importance of the carbon staying as a constant measure to ensure the considerable expenses being met from the carbon tax continue. One thing for certain is that what the oil crisis reveals to us is that we need to ensure we reduce and, hopefully, end our dependency on Middle Eastern oil. The only way we are going to do this is by ensuring that Ireland becomes a fully renewable country in terms of being able to produce our own renewables. I am not going to give Deputy McDonald an answer as to when measures are going to be introduced by the Irish Government but I can tell her that those deliberations are ongoing, just as they are ongoing in Northern Ireland with Sinn Féin's own Government, where it has the finance Ministry and the Ministry for the economy. I want Deputy McDonald to be aware, however, that my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, asked the energy security group to meet on 6 March to assess the implications of the conflict in the Middle East and the Gulf region. The group reviewed current supply and pricing conditions across oil, gas and electricity. I know that in recent days the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, wrote to retail electricity and gas suppliers, as well as to fuel suppliers, to emphasise the importance of reducing the exposure for Irish consumers from the price shocks created by geopolitical events. I assure Deputy McDonald that the Irish Government will act but we are not going to act simply to meet a deadline put in place by her or by others. We will come forward with a considered response. It will involve the Government meeting to discuss the nature of this response. Deputy McDonald will be aware that when there was a war previously, we responded very positively from the point of view of the Irish consumer and we will do so again. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-18