National Oil Reserves Agency (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-26 ============================================================ Eileen Lynch (FG), Agricultural Panel I thank the Minister of State for being with us. I welcome this legislation. It is timely and necessary amid a backdrop of increasing global uncertainty. As the Minister of State outlined, the Bill seeks to remove the NORA levy, which is charged at a rate of 2 cent per litre applied to petroleum products sold across the country, on a temporary basis for two months. I acknowledge that the Bill also gives the Minister the power to extend the measure, if necessary, by ministerial order. As we are all aware, we are living in incredibly fraught times, between war in Ukraine and the recent conflict in the Middle East and the Gulf. They are threatening the world in which we live and we really do not know when, or indeed if, a resolution will be reached. Irish citizens across the country are feeling the effects of this war in the sharp increase in the cost of fuel at the pumps, which is putting an extra pressure on everyday lives. In particular, it is having a damaging effect on our hauliers and farmers. This Bill is part of a suite of measures introduced by the Government this week to ease the costs people are facing in relation to fuel and heat, and I strongly welcome these measures. They will make a real difference to people in addressing the extra costs they are facing. The reduction in the NORA levy in the next two months will work alongside the reduction in excise duty, the expansion of diesel rebates and the extension of the fuel allowance. I will, however, call out the price gouging being engaged in by fuel suppliers. Across the country, we saw a massive rise in the prices at the pumps before suppliers would ever have felt the extra cost. As consumers, we felt it. There were disproportionate increases. We need to address that, and I welcome the review which has been carried out in this regard by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. We have to ensure that any upward pressure does not lead to price increases for the consumer which are not proportionate. On a broader note, Ireland's energy security can no longer be taken for granted. We are, unfortunately, seeing the real consequences of over-reliance on imported fossil fuels. As an island on the periphery of Europe, we are particularly exposed. We import the vast majority of our oil, and that leaves us incredibly vulnerable to external shocks. It is very important that we also recognise the changing nature of energy itself. While oil remains critical to our economy today, particularly in transport and agriculture, we are in the midst of a transition to cleaner energy sources. Energy security and climate action are not opposing goals; they have to go hand in hand. Ensuring that we have adequate oil reserves today does not diminish our responsibility to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels tomorrow. We need to take a pragmatic approach that protects households and businesses while also steadily advancing our climate ambitions. It is incumbent on all of us as legislators to ensure that Ireland is better prepared for future shocks. This means investing in resilience, diversifying our energy sources and supporting innovation in renewable technologies. Ireland has made significant progress in recent years, particularly in wind energy. I urge that our wind energy guidelines be published as soon as possible; they have been delayed for far too long. Solar energy is also an area where we have seen expansion, and it can be further expanded, but it is important that it is expanded in the right places. We cannot continue to see valuable agricultural land taken up by solar farms when poorer land is unsuitable for development because it is not connected to the grid. In Spain, the Madrid region has banned solar farm development on agricultural land in order to protect olive and vine cultivation. These are the kinds of measures we will have to give due consideration to. The Government has invested €1.1 billion in budget 2026 in the area of energy and that billions of euro have been committed to the grid, but we still need to go further, investing in storage, grid infrastructure and expansion, as I have already mentioned, and emerging technologies such as green hydrogen. We have to do all we can right now to guarantee Irish energy security. I support this Bill. It is sensible, it is forward-looking and it is what is needed at this point. It will enhance our resilience and help us to navigate an increasingly complex global situation. Right now we really have no certainty as to what will occur. For that reason, I really welcome this legislation. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-26/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-26