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

In relation to the LEADER companies, I assure the Deputy that they have substantial administration budgets. We are working with them closely to make sure they invest it. As I said, we continue to monitor the position and we will continue to do that. We can do that because we have a strong economy. We can do that because we have made decisions that are sensible and evidence-based over many years. The €250 million investment is one of the biggest in Europe when we look at what is happening in the UK where they have invested, I think, £35 million. This gives us a sense that we are doing this in a targeted way. Those 467,000 people are families on fuel allowance, and this makes a big difference to those families. For the first time, fuel allowance has been extended to working families. They are spread right across the country, in rural areas and in cities, and this is making an immediate difference. Our economic policies that are focused and ambitious mean we are in a position to put €250 million in at this point. We continue to keep the position under review. The Deputy’s party’s position is to throw money at everything. Were we to follow that position, we would not have the resources available that we have now.

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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