Home Heating Oil (Emergency Mineral Oil Tax Reduction) Bill 2026: Second Stage [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Conor D. McGuinness (SF), Waterford

We are seven months into this particular crisis with the increase in the price of oil and families are dealing with almost a doubling of the cost of home heating oil. I am dealing with families who are deciding whether to restrict spending on other essential parts of life, for example, whether they will cut down on the grocery shop, whether they will do a grocery shop this week, or how they will feed their children, so that they can put oil in the tank because prices have gone from approximately €900 for a fill last year to an average price of €1,600 for a fill this year and the Government has done absolutely nothing to reduce the pressure on families or reduce the cost. It has not removed one cent of excise duty from home heating oil, despite Sinn Féin having brought forward a proposal eight times. This is the eighth time we have brought forward a proposal while the Government has sat on its hands and made out it is not a problem.
The Government talks around the subject, flies kites and says it might do something, but that is of no use to new parents with a newborn baby who need hot water and a home. It is of no use to older people who are living the twilight years of their lives in one room because they cannot afford to heat the rest of the house. It is no good to the people who are already in arrears on their electricity bills, cannot afford oil and are wondering how they will stay warm this winter. That is the reality facing people on the Minister of State's watch and that of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents propping them up. It is simply not good enough.
It is a disgrace that not one solitary Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael backbencher or Independent Member is in the House as we discuss this modicum of respite for hard-pressed families across the State - rural and urban - when it comes to the cost of heating their homes. It is an absolute disgrace. They might come down and do the right thing by supporting this legislation. It is not too late. We are here. We are putting it forward and they have a choice to make.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-22