Home Heating Oil (Emergency Mineral Oil Tax Reduction) Bill 2026: Second Stage [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Seamus Healy (IND), Tipperary South

The cost-of-living crisis has been building in this country since Covid. It is now at gale-force strength, battering families right across the country. The Government made the crisis even worse by withdrawing the cost-of-living supports in the last budget, costing families up to €1,400. This year, 2026, has seen more huge increases in the costs of all essentials and families are under increasing pressure, trying to make ends meet. They are put to the pin of their collar. The position is so bad that half a million families are in arrears with their electricity and gas bills and seven out of ten young people see their future abroad.
The price of home heating oil has increased by 15% in the past two weeks, and it is up 70% on this time 12 months ago. A total of 500 litres of home heating oil is €100 more costly today than it was two weeks ago. A total of 700,000 houses, mainly in rural Ireland, are affected by this. It is another indication of the discrimination against rural Ireland. Carbon tax must be removed from home heating oil and VAT should be reduced from 13.5% to 9%. Oil companies are making obscene windfall profits and they must be subject to a windfall profit tax. The eight largest oil companies have made $93 billion in profit in three months. It is immoral.
Electricity credits are essential for the coming winter and I believe a €500 electricity credit must be introduced. Data centres are paying electricity charges at half the household rates and they must be made to pay at least the same as householders. Groceries are also up significantly, costing a family an additional €2,500 over the past few years. We need price caps on energy and groceries.
The budget in two weeks' time must protect families. We have the money. The Government found over €2.5 billion down the back of a sofa in October 2024 to buy the November 2024 general election. This is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The budget in two weeks' time must, as a minimum, reduce the cost of home heating oil by removing the carbon tax and reducing the VAT rate, introduce a windfall profits tax, make data centres pay the same electricity rates as households, pay a €500 energy credit to households, introduce a second tier of child benefit for poorer families, increase the fuel allowance, implement the living wage and increase social welfare rates by €15.

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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