Finance Bill 2026: Second Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-09
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Robert Troy (FF), Longford-Westmeath

With regard to the carbon tax, some speakers referred to no concrete measures being taken to reduce the long-term cost of energy for people. The deep retrofitting of houses is making sure that people who are in receipt of fuel allowance, who are more likely to be susceptible to fuel poverty, have lower energy costs in the longer term. In 2025, €469 million was spent on the retrofitting of homes. They are permanent measures. I see it first hand in my constituency, and I am sure others see it also. Some €140 million was spent on energy efficiency and €99 million on the fuel allowance. The fuel allowance was increased in the most recent measures and in the previous budget. The income eligibility criteria were increased, and people on the working family payment can now avail of this. Some 470,000 people are availing of these additional measures that are targeted at those who most need support due to fuel poverty.
A number of Deputies, including Deputies Devlin, McGuinness, Brabazon and Kyne, made the point that the upcoming budget needs to ensure that workers are protected and supported. There should be a package of measures that rewards people who get up every day to go out to work, so they can feel the benefits of doing so. I would be very confident that that will happen in this budget.
Deputy Nash made the point that the generation of resources and how we redistribute resources are very important. He is right. Budget 2026 was about protecting jobs. The Deputy is critical of the VAT reduction, which was supported by many in the Opposition. Perhaps it would have been better if it were targeted more at smaller microenterprises. That said, there are 190,000 people working in the hospitality industry, and 75% of those are in businesses with fewer than ten people. It is about protecting jobs. We invested in services, and the largest ever investment in the most recent budget was for the provision of housing. The first home scheme and the shared equity scheme are supporting people into home ownership, which is something we can all agree on.
Deputy Michael Healy-Rae is right about the SEAI grants. We should be doing more. Anyone who applies for the grants only to be told there is an 18- to 24-month waiting list is bitterly disappointed. They see the benefits in their friend’s house, and they want that. However, they want it faster, and we need to work towards that.
With regard to the overseas aid budget, Deputy Nolan suggested that if we did not give anything to overseas aid, we would have no challenge in society in Ireland today. While I would like to spend more, I am proud that as a developed country, we spend 0.56% of our gross national income on humanitarian supports for malnourished women and children across the globe, helping to build communities in the developing world. I think that is a good thing to do. To try to sow division by saying that if we did not do that, we would be able to answer all our problems, is distasteful and wrong.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-09