An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Maria McCormack (SF), Labour Panel

My condolences to Senator Gerard Craughwell. I thank him for sharing those details of his wife, Helen.
I am really delighted to be back. The most important issue and what I have been listening to people talking about in rural Ireland all over the summer and especially at the ploughing match in Screggan last week is the cost of fuels, including home heating oil, petrol and diesel. We are up at €2.20 a litre in the midlands for diesel. This cannot be sustained and green diesel has gone through the roof. Today, my colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, will bring legislation through the Dáil to cut the carbon tax on home heating oil and I really urge us to work together here. We have solutions. We know that families cannot take this any more. A full tank of home heating oil can now cost between €1,600 and €1,700. People in rural Ireland and all across Ireland cannot afford this, especially those in rural Ireland who rely on oil. We are thinking of our elderly people - pensioners - who cannot afford it. They are putting €100 or €200 worth of fuel in their tank and they cannot sustain it like this, on top of everything else that families are facing. In rural Ireland, people need fuel to go to work, the supermarket and to hospital appointments. We have to look at the overall tax that we have on fuel. I am asking the Government Senators here to urge their Government colleagues to support the legislation before us, and let us remove the carbon tax on home heating oil. We know that it can make a difference and it can be done now. People have to take to the streets to protest because they could not cope any more. We are going to see more of that and I support them 100% to peacefully protest because they cannot sustain the level at which the price of fuel is going up and how much tax is going into the Government's pockets and how much profit is being made here. We know that is as clear as day for everyone to see.

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