Finance Bill 2026: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-02 ============================================================ Joe O'Reilly (FG), Labour Panel I am happy that the previous speaker remembered to mention his nominating base in his speech. I was afraid he might forget. He did it extremely well, to be fair. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank him for his opening remarks. A number of the general things he said at the end of his contribution are extremely important. It is not unnecessarily or unreasonably partisan for a Government speaker to say that we can be very proud of the way the economy was managed over recent years to create budget surpluses to give us the flexibility to respond to the situation we are in. That is a great achievement. Were it not for the prudent management of the economy by successive Governments recently, we would not be in the position we are to be flexible and nimble. It is not an unreasonable thing to say. If the opposite were merited, we would be saying it equally loudly. The Minister of State made a point that was echoed by my colleagues, Senators Boyhan and Casey, about the importance of the necessary transition from fossil fuels. I would like to hear the Minister of State respond at the end of the debate. We are doing a lot around wind energy, including offshore wind energy, and more needs to be done, but as a State and a Government, we seem to be shying away from wave energy, where there is huge potential. I know there are considerable capital outlays in that area. The Minister of State might respond on that point. The Minister of State spoke about retrofitting and the good news from the SEAI about the number of applications. That is good. It is significant to see the increase in the number of applications to retrofit houses. That, in parallel with a switch at a broader level to green energy, is wonderful and I welcome it. That is good. I know the Minister of State is here to listen and he is a proactive Minister of State. He is here to pick up the useful things we want to tell him. One of the things I am picking up is that the SEAI grants are excellent and the SEAI personnel are excellent. I had interactions with them recently and found them to be brilliant. All of that is good, but there can be an unnecessary delay between the time of application and the payment of the grant. Perhaps that is improving. The Minister of State might speak to that, or at least check it out at Department level. I would be interested in that, as I think we all would be. There is another issue that I am interested in. From the CSO figures that the Minister of State quoted, this is being well monitored but we need to monitor whether price decreases are being passed on to ensure there is no price gouging or bad practice in passing on decreases or reductions in prices. The Minister of State might speak to that too and the steps being taken to ensure there is tight policing there because consumers deserve that. I welcome the opportunity to support and speak to the Bill. Fuel and energy costs continue to be one of the biggest concerns facing families, businesses and communities across Ireland. While prices have eased somewhat in recent months, they remain significantly higher than they were only a few years ago. That is particularly true for rural Ireland, where many people simply have no alternative but to travel by car. The car is important. Our businesses rely on transport, haulage, etc., and on cars to remain competitive and in business. I welcome the measures in the Bill. The increase in the diesel rebate for qualifying road transport operators is a practical measure that recognises the important role the haulage sector plays in keeping our economy moving. We responded well and flexibly in that regard. As the Minister of State knows, margins in the haulage sector are tight. There is now potential for much more pressure so the haulage sector needed that response, as did agricultural contractors. There is an anomaly or lacuna. It would be relevant in the next budget to look at the price of kerosene. We extended the fuel allowance for a month, which was great, but there is a sector of people who are marginally above minimal income levels, etc., but are finding it very difficult to buy kerosene. That needs to be considered. People on specific payments, such as disability payments, etc., need to be looked after. I would like the Minister of State to speak to that issue in his response. Representing a county like Cavan, I know the sheer importance of rural transport and cars, lorries, tractors and all of that. We do not have a railway network in Cavan. Everyone will be familiar, sadly, with the song, "No Train To Cavan". There were trains to Cavan, but they were lost. We have to get them back, and hopefully we will. The movement to get a train line to Navan is very welcome in this context. At the same time, we remain committed to Ireland's climate objectives. However, climate action and affordability have to go together. The transition to a lower carbon economy will only succeed if it is practical, balanced and supported by the public. Measures such as these demonstrate that it is possible to provide targeted relief while continuing to move towards our long-term goals. The great thing about the carbon tax is that it is ring-fenced and the revenues are then used and targeted for retrofitting and to support energy initiatives and a lower dependence on fossil fuels. The strength and relevance of the carbon tax are that it is going where it should be going. Ultimately, this Bill is about responding to current challenges in a sensible way. It supports transport operators, helps to ease the burden on families and businesses and recognises the unique challenges facing rural Ireland, while maintaining our commitment to responsible public finances. A great example of this is the amendment being brought in next week, which will ensure there will not be a cliff edge at the end of the supports and that they will be continued to cushion people in a graduated way. The Bill will provide, and has provided, temporary reliefs from high energy costs. The support to the transport and haulage sector is important to the wider economy. All in all, the Bill is to be welcomed. We can be very proud of how we as a country were the best responders in western Europe to the crisis. That does not mean, however, that we should be complacent about the future; we are not. --- 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/2026-07-02/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-02