Mineral Oil Tax: Financial Resolution
Dail Éireann — 2026-08-28
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Pearse Doherty (SF), Donegal

This is an embarrassing climbdown from the Government, one we warned it about back in July. In its arrogance, the Government voted against a Sinn Féin amendment that would have seen us not having to recall the Dáil in emergency fashion. Fine Gael, the Independents and Fianna Fáil thought better and now we are here to clean up their mess. They thought they were going to get away with it but the public had a different mind and intention.
The reality is that what the Government is doing today is simply delaying the pain. The resolution it is asking us to vote for today is to support the increase on petrol and diesel come 14 October, 1 November, 1 December and again in January and February. As I said to the Minister before, there is no way I will support that. There is no way, when these prices remain sky high, that I could return to my constituents, look them in the face and say that I voted to make their lives harder because that is exactly what the Minister is doing.
The real impact of this motion here today is that, yes, we and the public have forced the Government into delaying the September and October increases, but it is six weeks of a reprieve. That is all it is and it is an example of the Government not understanding the pressure that people are under the length and breadth of this State. It is not just about petrol and diesel; it is about the constant rising prices everywhere: electricity, food, fuel, mortgages and interest rates. It is about all the pressure that is being put on people. What should be happening in this emergency sitting of the Dáil, if we had a Government that is worth its salt and understands the real pulse of the Irish people, is that the Government should be talking here about the proposals it is bringing forward to support individuals during the cost-of-living crisis. Instead, we have this farce of the Government asking us to vote for the date on which it can make life harder for people. Is it to be 14 October or 1 November? Well, we are having none of it.
There is an amendment before the Dáil from Sinn Féin. It is simple and clear: not a single cent in additional taxes on petrol and diesel while these prices remain high. It is the amendment the Government should have supported in July and, therefore, it would not have had to make this U-turn and call this Dáil into emergency session. Every TD should ask themselves the question, "How am I going to look my constituents in the face, when I go back to Waterford, Kerry or Donegal, if I vote for this resolution?". Let us be clear: come 14 October, what the Government is voting for is to increase petrol, diesel and home heating oil. It is absolutely shameful if that is the decision it takes today.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-08-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-31T01:00:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-08-28