Energy Prices
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Alan Dillon (FG), Mayo

I thank the Deputy for raising this important topic. The irony here is that Sinn Féin voted against yesterday’s cut in excise duty, which will make the cost of fuel at the pumps cheaper and reduce the cost of energy and fuel for households and families. The Deputy is about blaming the Government for its lack of action, when we actually took action. Sinn Féin was the only Opposition party to vote against the cut.
It looks like Sinn Féin is making it up as it goes along every single day. Even the Private Members' Bill it brought forward last week had no mention at all of the fuel allowance with regard to the 470,000 households impacted, or the measures we have introduced which are targeted and supportive of those who are at risk of fuel poverty and on the lowest income deciles.
Energy affordability is a priority for this Government. The increase in energy prices in recent weeks is a real concern. What we have seen are not just normal price fluctuations, but a real geopolitical shock that has immediate consequences across the world. Military action in the Gulf is impacting crude oil prices significantly, and market volatility is certainly causing a risk of supply and huge disruption. The energy security group met on 8 March to assess the implications of the conflict, and that ensured the Government is fully informed of the ongoing developments as regards global energy markets. The group reviewed the current supply and price conditions across oil, gas and electricity, and heard from fuel industry representatives. On 11 March, Ireland agreed to participate in the International Energy Agency to release international strategic reserves to address any supply issues which may result from the conflict. Indeed, Ireland has contributed to the IEA 400 million-barrel release, with 1.6 million barrels in place. The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment is also liaising with the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, on the operational element of that release.
The Minister, Deputy O’Brien, chaired a meeting of the national energy affordability task force on 15 March. That focus was very much on ensuring that the Government is informed of the ongoing developments. We also had a subsequent meeting on 26 March, this afternoon, with regard to the Government taking action to help households and businesses in respect of the fuel and energy crisis. Earlier this week, the Government introduced temporary and targeted measures, as I outlined earlier, cutting diesel by 22 cent, petrol by 17 cent and marked oil by 5 cent. These measures will have a significant impact in terms of the diesel tax rebate scheme, supporting the haulage and bus passenger operators who are also exposed. We are very worried about heating oil and have extended the fuel allowance for those who would have seen an end to it at the end of this month. That has been extended by an extra four weeks, with an additional €152 to support those in receipt of it. We have allowed those on the family working payment to be included in the fuel allowance, which affects an additional 50,000 households. Overall, the Government will continue to actively monitor the geopolitical situation and continue to make adjustments as we see fit over the weeks and months ahead.

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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