Fuel Poverty
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

There was consensus on the vote and Sinn Féin was the only party to oppose the reduction in excise duty. Every other party in the House supported it. A total of 467,204 people will get fuel allowance and there is an extension of four weeks. That is an investment of €71 million. The majority of the recipients of the fuel allowance payment live in rural counties. That is €152. My understanding, which I will clarify for the Deputy, is that it will be paid weekly. We want to get it to people as quickly as possible. That €152 extra will make a difference and will bring in fuel allowance season right to the week ending 1 May. There was a €5 increase this year as well.
For the first time, just under 50,000 families in receipt of the working family payment will also get the fuel allowance. Again, the working family payment is right across the country, including in rural Ireland.
We have said we will keep the position under review. Were we to adopt Sinn Féin's position and react to every crisis by throwing cash at it, we would not have the capacity to deliver, keep things under review and put further investments in if this situation in the Middle East continues.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26