Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-15
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Holly Cairns (SD), Cork South-West

It is undoubtedly welcome that the Government engaged with the hauliers and farmers. That was obviously desperately needed. What is unbelievable is that the Government still does not seem to be listening or engaging with people who are struggling. I asked about home heating oil. There are 700,000 households reliant on home heating oil, the price of which has gone up 70% in the space of a month. I asked about disabled people who are out protesting because they simply could not afford to live before any of this happened. I asked about single parents and ordinary families who are so hard-pressed, but all the Taoiseach does is come back and try to attack the Social Democrats. He talks about investment in solar. It is unbelievable that the Government is not focusing on investment in solar. Never before has it been so exposed how vulnerable we are because we are so reliant on fossil fuels. The Government's investment in solar predominantly benefits data centres as opposed to ordinary people. There are 1 million homes eligible for solar. Only 10% have it. They are the households that can afford to meet the impact of price shocks. We are asking the Government to extend grants to people who need to be protected from price shocks.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-15