EU Directives
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-21
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Pearse Doherty (SF), Donegal

I thank the Minister for his response. When he rises again, will he clarify for the House whether he has written to the Commission and asked it for this to be part of its tool? Has he asked the Commission to consider and agree a zero percent rate of VAT on domestic electricity? As he knows, the Commission has published its draft. It said it wanted to engage with member states. I am sure it engaged with the Minister in relation to this. Did the Minister ask the Commission and formally put that proposal to it in relation to the zero percent? In the absence of the Commission's agreement - the mechanisms in terms of member states having to agree - there are other measures that can be introduced. Energy credits is a way of supporting families and, indeed, the Minister brought it forward for many years himself. Does he not recognise that given the scale of the crisis, where people are at, that so many households cannot pay their electricity bills and that one in four households cannot pay their gas bills, there needs to be an intervention now? People simply cannot wait.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-21