Finance Bill 2026: From the Seanad
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-08
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Pearse Doherty (SF), Donegal

I move amendment No. 1 to Recommendation No. 1:
To delete the text of subsection (2) and substitute the following:
“(2) Section 99A of the Finance Act 1999 is further amended, with effect as on and from 1 July 2026, by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3):
“(3) Where—
(a) gas oil has been purchased on or after 1 January 2020 and before 1 January 2026, subject to a maximum repayment rate of €75.00 per 1,000 litres, the amount to be repaid per 1,000 litres of gas oil
under subsection (2) is determined—
(i) when P is less than or equal to €1,070, by the formula—
A = (P - 1,000) x 0.3,
or
(ii) when P is greater than €1,070, by the formula—
A = 21 + [(P - 1,070) x 0.6],
or
(b) gas oil has been purchased on or after 1 January 2026, subject to a maximum repayment rate of €120.00 per 1,000 litres, the amount to be repaid per 1,000 litres of gas oil under subsection (2) is determined—
(i) when P is less than or equal to €1,070, by the formula—
A = (P - 1,000) x 0.3,
(ii) when P is greater than €1,070 and less than or equal to €1,150,
by the formula—
A = 21 + [(P - 1,070) x 0.675],
or
(iii) when P is greater than €1,150, by the formula—
A is the amount to be repaid per 1,000 litres, and
P is an estimate of the average price (exclusive of value-added tax) in euro per 1,000 litres of gas oil purchased by qualifying road transport operators during the repayment period, as determined in accordance with subsection (4).”.”.
This is tied to the latter amendment and I will speak further at length on that. Recommendation No. 1 deals with the diesel rebate scheme, which operates within a window that closes on 1 October. That is the wrong decision and it should be extended beyond the budget to allow for a proper review of the cost of fuel during budget time in order to identify the appropriate window for the operation of the scheme. To decide to close it on 1 October is the wrong decision. The amendment seeks to remove the date of 1 October which leaves the scheme open ended, with the intention that it would be reviewed at the time of the budget, which is the following week, with a decision taken broadly not just on the diesel rebate scheme but also, as we will see in recommendation No. 2, the excise duty that will be placed on petrol and diesel and whether that would be appropriate, given the pressures the Government's decision would put on ordinary workers and families across the State.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-08/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-08