Fuel, Energy and Carbon Tax Relief: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

Cuirim fáilte roimh an gnó Comhaltaí Príobháideacha seo ó Independent Ireland inniu. A bill was presented to me this week by an 89-year-old woman who is a constituent in my county. She paid €860 for less than half a tank of home heating oil for her house. That is the equivalent of about three weeks' income for her. The amount of oil she bought is unlikely to do her until the other side of Christmas. That is an incredible price for any elderly individual living on their own to have to pay just for a staple good. That heating would swallow up three weeks' income in that period is absolutely incredible. The Government is taking €200 of that €860 in tax, which means that it the cause of a significant portion of the difficulties she is having in regard to paying for her oil.
Right now, it takes more than €100 for a worker to fill a tank with petrol or diesel. That individual is a worker who gets up early in the morning and who our Government is very fond of talking about on a regular basis. Of the €100 that goes into his or her tank, €45 goes in Government taxes. The Government talks about the fact that there are wars in Iran and Ukraine and that both have helped to push up oil prices. That is correct, but the Government is one of the biggest drivers in respect of the increase in the price of fuel in this country. The Government is tax-gouging the people of this country in regard to fuel. Fuel is not a luxury good; it is a staple. People cannot do without fuel. They do not have an alternative to putting on the heat in their homes or to getting into the car to get to work. It is actively the Government's policy objective to increase the price of fuel.
Aontú was the only political party a number of years ago that opposed the introduction of carbon taxes. The reason we did so was very simple. The idea of introducing a tax that, year on year, would increase the price of a product irrespective of the economic circumstances that people would be in or the international price of that product is absolutely wrong. It is scandalous, and the Government did that. We have had an acceptance and admittance - nearly an apology - from the Tánaiste in recent weeks that the idea of bringing in a carbon tax is a stupid and dangerous idea as regards families.
Let me illustrate how quids in the Government is in this case. As a result of the war in Iran and the fact that prices have increased so significantly in recent times, it will take in €280 million more this year in VAT than it did last year. The Government will take in €1.6 billion in VAT on energy this year. In April and May, it took in €440 million in accumulated VAT because of the increased price of fuel. Last year, the Government took in €4.5 billion in fuel taxes, the most in the history of the State and in the jaws of a cost-of-living crisis. Just when people were suffering significantly in regard to the cost of fuel, the Government reached into their pockets and took more money out of them.
It is very important to realise why we have reached this juncture. Why has there been a change of heart among those in government in recent times in respect of this issue? It is simply down to people power. The reason the Government has taken a different tack in recent months is because hundreds of thousands of ordinary Irish citizens could take no more and took to the streets last April. Ordinary individuals, the people who keep this country going and who do the work to pay the taxes could not take any more.
This Sunday a really important meeting will take place at the Well in Moate, County Westmeath. It has been organised by those protestors. It is to look at what the next steps will be in order to try to ensure that the Government listens to the people about the price of fuel. I encourage people to go along to that. Aontú will be there standing with them, as we did last April. Does this Government not realise that its policy is bad for families, bad for businesses and bad for the economy? The Government has to change tack on taxation on energy. If it does not do so, many more businesses will go to the wall and many families will not be able to put on the heat or feed themselves this year. We will have serious difficulties as a result. I implore the Government to listen to common sense for a change on the issue of energy.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-23