Home Heating Oil (Emergency Mineral Oil Tax Reduction) Bill 2026: Second Stage [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Pearse Doherty (SF), Donegal

I listened to the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, and I listened to the other Minister of State who came in here. Nobody else from the Government benches had the brass neck to come in and face us down on this issue. Listening to the Minister of State, I wondered what planet she is living on. She said the facts do not lie. Here are some facts for her. The price of a fill of home heating oil has increased by €700 since the start of this year. Here is another fact. The Government has not reduced the tax by 1 cent to help any one of those families that are pushed to the pin of their collar with the rising costs.
Another fact is that there are hundreds of thousands of families right across this State, from Donegal right down to Cork, and everywhere in between, that are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. It is not just fuel or home heating oil; it is the price of groceries, rent, insurance and electricity. Life is just bearing down on them and they are finding it really difficult.
I have been in so many homes where people have told me their facts. They have showed me their tanks that are running dry. They have showed me the 5 gallon drums, because that is now how they have to heat their home. They are looking at a Government that has billions of euro of surplus yet it will still not reduce the taxes on home heating oil to help families keep their homes warm this winter. It is a shame on it. The Government is completely detached from where ordinary people are at. The next time they sit around the Cabinet table, every single one of the Ministers, all of whom are in public jobs that are paid by the public purse and all of whom are earning in excess of €200,000, should think of what it is like to be that mother who cannot fill her oil tank. They should think of what it is like to be that father who cannot afford to put diesel in his car to drive to work without making other sacrifices in his life. That is the Ireland that we are living in today.
This is the eighth time I have brought this legislation before the Dáil since March of this year, because those prices have gone up and up. People need a voice and we in Sinn Féin will be their voice. We will fight their corner. We will have their back. We are not going to give up until they get what they deserve. What they deserve is a Government that understands the pressure they are under, one that understands they are being ripped off left, right and centre, including by the Government. It was not lost on the woman whose home I went to, whose tank is running dry, that as the price of home heating oil, diesel and petrol goes up the Government takes in more money in tax.
It is shameful that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents will line up again for the eighth time to vote against reducing the cost in order to help people heat their home. The Government has lost touch with the Irish people. The people will rise if the Government does not act, if it does not get this right and understand the pressure people are under. I have no doubt about it. They are at the pin of their collar, at breaking point, and they will rise, just like they did before. I remember the Tánaiste, Deputy Harris, standing over there telling me that we were isolated; that we took the wrong decision; that not one party or Independent voted the same way as Sinn Féin on the fuel issues. By God we were far from isolated when my colleagues and I were standing with protestors right across this State, who rose up and said they were taking nothing more.

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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