Finance Bill 2026 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-07
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Conor Murphy (SF), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I move recommendation No. 2:
In page 6, to delete lines 1 to 22 and substitute the following:
Many families across the State are rightly appalled by the Government’s decision to withdraw the fuel tax cuts that were introduced most reluctantly in April. The decision may not make much of a difference to the Government but for ordinary people, increases in petrol and diesel in September, October, November and December will make a significant impact on their quality of life. September through to Christmas is already a very expensive time for people. Last year, Barnardo’s back-to-school cost report outlined everything parents were expected to cover, from school shoes through to voluntary contributions, classroom resources and on and on. It adds up to hundreds of euro per child.
The Zurich cost-of-education report published this year found costs of over €1,700 a year for a primary school child while secondary school education costs €3,000 per annum per child. Just yesterday, online shopping charges of €3 per item for parcels and packages originating outside the European Union came into effect. At a time when people are under serious pressure as a result of the cost of living, the last thing they need is another unexpected charge. Ireland is uniquely exposed because of online shopping and how it is integrated with Britain. The Government could have chosen to support people. It could raise money in other ways and leave the fuel rebate in place. It could have taxed the banks but is more than happy to let the financial crash loophole remain in place, meaning that the banks continue to carry forward losses from 2008 when the economy crashed and offset them against their current booming profits. Even the measures which were introduced in April were hard to access. Many hauliers reported difficulties arising from the three-month wait for the rebate. Deputy Doherty has raised this with the Government numerous times, but we see no willingness to be agile on its part. If the Government had made the cut directly at the pump, hauliers would get the benefit immediately and would not have to wait three months for it. Everybody else would also benefit, including all of those commuters, etc., fill up their cars with petrol or diesel. In addition, it avoids the cash-flow issues that the rebate scheme has ingrained within it.
This recommendation proposes the postponement of the increases in carbon taxes on home heating oil, green diesel and canister gas until October.
For months, the Taoiseach ruled this out. While people endured the worst cost-of-living crisis in memory, the Taoiseach stood resolute.
Sinn Féin has always opposed increasing carbon taxes. They are unfair and do nothing for the climate or the environment while alternatives do not exist or are unaffordable. A further increase in this tax punishes those who are already struggling - workers, families and people with disabilities - without giving them an alternative. If this Government had imagination and listened to ordinary people, it would know that punitive tax increases such as these do one thing, that being, force people into deprivation and keep the poorest houses cold.
On recommendation No. 2, the Government typically increases the price of home heating oil, natural gas and solid fuels in May every year and the price of motor fuel in October. Our recommendation would delete all further increases in carbon tax that the Government has outlined from now until May 2030. Our proposition would leave the existing levels in place until this coming October, when they should be reviewed. This will be the right course of action at a time when the weather will be getting colder and people must heat their homes. People are crippled with the cost of living and these fuel rebates must be kept in place.
Recommendation No. 3 seeks to delete all future carbon tax increases on liquid fuel and diesel, for example. For reasons already outlined, the Government should not increase carbon taxes at this point in time.
Recommendation No. 4 proposes that the rate of mineral oil tax will increase on 1 September, 1 October, 1 November and 1 December, in addition to a budgetary increase on 14 October. Families and businesses are already crippled with the cost of everything constantly going up. The Government has the power to help and this legislation should not be enacted.

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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/2026-07-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-07