Home Heating Oil (Emergency Mineral Oil Tax Reduction) Bill 2026: Second Stage [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Brian Stanley (IND), Laois

Households were never under pressure like this before. Middle and low-income households that coped in the past are under increasing pressure. Domestic home heating oil's sky-high cost is a huge contributory factor. In Laois, 41% of households are totally dependent on kerosene home heating oil and do not have an option. We have tracked prices, which have skyrocketed by 79% or more since last autumn. One political party claims that they went up 50%. I am not too sure where the data is coming from but the hard facts and the prices that are advertised and people are paying contradict that.
Before the energy crisis, kerosene was approximately 95 cent per litre. This week in Laois, the cost is €1.68 per litre. For households which are under pressure and cannot afford to buy 1,000 litres or 500 litres at a time, which are instead buying 200 litres at a time, the cost is between €1.75 and €1.82 per litre. The poorest hard-pressed households are paying up to €1.82 per litre. People are afraid to turn on their heating. I acknowledge that fuel allowance and the thresholds for eligibility have been increased. The Government can go further with that in the budget. I accept that. All those workers and middle-income people who do not get fuel allowance are caught with increased rents, mortgages, college fees, insurance, childcare, grocery, and public transport costs, at the very time when we are trying to reduce carbon emissions and to get people onto public transport.
We need solutions. We need to impose a levy on the big energy companies. We are talking about it and the Government is talking about it, but we need to act. The Government could reduce or stop the carbon tax on home heating oil under EU law. That is one of the things it can do. It should certainly reduce it or put the brakes on. The Government could reduce the VAT on home heating oil from 13.5% to 9%, as some in the industry are calling for. This would give immediate relief to hard-pressed families and households. The Government's take from the carbon tax on home heating oil has doubled in six years. That is some of the extra revenue that is coming in. A targeted energy credit is needed for those households that do not get the fuel allowance but whose incomes are below €75,000. I am not in favour of a blanket energy credit across the board, which would include well-off households. Some parties are. I would not support that. I do not think it is a good idea. It needs to be targeted.
On renewable energy, the quickest and most efficient gains can be obtained by installing solar panels. Improved grants are needed for those households caught in the middle or at the lower end. They are the ones who do not qualify for the fuel scheme, etc. We need to take on plug-in solar energy in a serious manner.

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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