Mineral Oil Tax: Financial Resolution
Dail Éireann — 2026-08-28
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Charles Ward (RDR), Donegal

During the fuel protests, the public came out and told the Government what needed to be done. It knew this was coming, it did not listen and it left it to the eleventh hour, and here we are. The Government will have been in place for two years this November. What it has achieved is that we have record levels of homelessness, food inflation and the highest energy prices in Europe. The homelessness number is 17,500. In one year's time, it will be in excess of 20,000. At the same time, Ireland is now the most expensive country in Europe for household electricity. Electricity bills have risen by between 75% and 85% since 2020, while the price of home heating oil has increased by up to 50% in the last six months alone. There has a been a rise in food bills, with family grocery trolleys now costing €225 compared with €150 in 2020. People have been abandoned. There is no plan in place. There needs to be a change in direction. If there is none, we will be coming in here trying to fix the mess that has been created. The Government needs to start listening.

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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