National Oil Reserves Agency (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-25
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Cathy Bennett (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

Ordinary families and workers understand that the Irish Government is not responsible for international energy crises. Where the frustration lies, however, is that what it is responsible for is Ireland's response, and its response has been lethargic, it is lacklustre and it has not been nearly good enough. Not only is it a delayed response but our starting point is actually worse than it need have been, given that the Government pulled the energy credits only a few months ago based on inflation figures it got wrong. With more than 300,000 households already in electricity arrears and a new crisis emerging, what people would have expected is a Government response that prioritised them and looked to protect them from the worst impact of price shocks. Instead they got a wait-and-see response, and now they get tokenism: on fuel allowance a paltry four-week extension, and limited intervention on petrol and diesel that simply does not cut it. It is not good enough. There is not even tokenism for those without a clue how they will pay for home heating oil. There is nothing at all. With all the credibility of snake oil salesmen, the Government continues to tell farmers and rural people that they benefit from the carbon tax, a claim report after report has found to be completely baseless.
Sinn Féin's proposals would have delivered a €183 reduction on 1,000 litres of home heating oil; the Government's proposals do not. Sinn Féin has advocated a 25 cent reduction on the tax the Government raises from petrol and diesel.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-25