Fuel Protests: Statements (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-14
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Eileen Flynn (IND), Administrative Panel

What I am going to say will probably get a lot of hate comments on social media. However, I will say it anyway. Today was a complete waste of time and energy by all political parties. It was a day that we could have used to work with communities. The Government needs to listen to people. It needs to change what it is doing right now. A decrease of 10 cent per litre in fuel is not good enough. The Government should not wait for roads to be blocked and tempers to be high. It should sit down now with anti-poverty groups, trade unions, disability organisations, Traveller organisations, organisations for migrants and for older people, as well as environmental campaigns to design an energy policy that works. One thing I will take from today is that all this political football carries on when we have people who are struggling on the margins of society. I know better than the majority of people in these Houses what it is like to live in run-down accommodation as a young child, not having lights and sometimes not having heat and hot water. I lived in bad Traveller accommodation for years. I know that impacts on a person's well-being. It impacts on health, affects the lungs and heart and impacts on a child's ability to complete education. We really need to stop the political football that is going on again today in a waste of everybody's time. We should look for meaningful action that will help people living in poverty including those who get up early in the morning, those who do night shifts, those who have no money to fill their cars to bring their children to school and the children who take buses. What I am calling for, as I said a few minutes ago, is for the Government to work with NGOs and communities on the margins of society. Instead of just hating one another and playing political football, it is time for action to stop what is going on in our streets.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-14