Home Heating Oil (Emergency Mineral Oil Tax Reduction) Bill 2026: Second Stage [Private Members] Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22 ============================================================ Barry Heneghan (IND), Dublin Bay North Agus mé i m'oifig, bhí mé ag éisteacht le go leor daoine ag caint faoin ábhar seo. Mar is gnáth, táim an-bhuíoch de dhaoine a thagann isteach anseo le solutions. Níl na daoine atá ag tabhairt amach ag rá aon rud a bhfuil muid in ann a dhéanamh faoi láthair. Táimidne sa Teach seo anseo ar son daoine na hÉireann chun a saol a fheabhsú. Tá daoine áirithe sa Teach seo ag díriú isteach ar political point scoring seachas ar solutions. I think everyone in this Chamber knows that the current price of oil and fuel is being driven by what is happening across the conflicts of the world, be it Ukraine and Russia or the Middle East. All we can do in this Chamber is give as much of a cushion and as much protection to the Irish people as possible. It is the reason I continue to offer solutions to the Government. I am very grateful for the work the Independents have been doing on plug-in solar. I love hearing Members on all sides of the House speak about the benefits of plug-in solar and how it will help those who are struggling with bills in apartment blocks and those who cannot afford a couple of thousand euro for a solar system but who want to spend €400 or €500 on a kit that will have a payback period of two years rather than one of six to ten years. It makes sense. The UK did it on 27 August and I look forward to seeing it brought into Ireland. In relation to the budget and home heating oil, one thing I urge the Government to prioritise - and I have been doing this in my work on the committee and in my emails and parliamentary questions - is the living alone allowance. It costs the same to heat a home whether someone is on their own or whether there are two people living in it. The tank is the same size, the rooms are the same size, and the winter will be just as cold. If we could bring in one thing that would really help, it would be to help those older people, the widowed, those with disabilities who are living alone and those with disabilities who are struggling with the cost of living at the moment. If we could put pressure on bringing in a higher income limit for a single person, I think that would really benefit the pensioner living alone whose pension has just put them above the threshold which then makes them lose the fuel allowance. They then lose access to the free warmer homes scheme. That is why I ask for a fairer income assessment. In a parliamentary question I submitted I asked how much it would cost if the Department increased the threshold by €4. The Minister responded that it would cost the State €52 million for the full year. That is targeted and affordable and will help those elderly and those living alone to get through these harsh months. When older people are warm they are comfortable, they stay at home, they stay in the community they have lived in and they stay around their neighbours. It helps their mental health and their routine and it is very good for their longevity. I urge this Government to address targeted help. That is why I will keep plugging plug-in solar with the Independents. I will keep using my influence as an Independent for solutions. I really welcome the work of the regional Independents on the programme for Government commitments and on the programme for Government we negotiated. I look forward to seeing it deliver for the Irish people. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. 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