Energy and Fuel Costs: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-18
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Ciarán Ahern (LAB), Dublin South-West

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this timely motion forward. As we saw at the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the cost of energy and fuel has skyrocketed in the weeks since Trump and Netanyahu’s bloody misadventure in the Middle East began. Never ones to waste a crisis, whether at the garage forecourt or in our home heating tanks, fuel providers here saw an opportunity for profit and they went for it. Prices changed not by the day, but by the hour. On top of an already crippling cost-of-living crisis, working people are struggling to cope. No action is not an option. Unfortunately, that is all we have got from this Government so far.
I heard the Tánaiste’s comments earlier that action will be taken in the coming days, which I welcome. The Labour Party has called on the Government to release part of our 90-day petroleum reserves as part of a range of cost-cutting measures to protect people from the immediate price shock, a measure the International Energy Agency, IEA, has subsequently proposed and endorsed. The Opposition is united in wanting to support the most vulnerable in our society who are suffering from energy poverty. We can and must protect people in ways that are both environmentally and fiscally responsible. The Labour Party will not attack the carbon tax, however. There are other ways to crack this nut, which I will get into a little later.

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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