Fuel, Energy and Carbon Tax Relief: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23
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Pa Daly (SF), Kerry

At the core, this debate is about a growing sense among ordinary people that they are being left to shoulder more and more of the burden while the Government sits on its hands. Ordinary workers, families and pensioners are paying more. Rural communities are expected to shoulder the cost of Government failure and inaction. For months now, families across the State have faced soaring living costs and household budgets are going through the roof. Yet, when practical measures are put forward to help people, the Government delays, does not act and says that now is not the time. It is turning its back on ordinary people.
The reality facing people on the ground, particularly in rural Ireland where families have no alternative but to rely on private transport and home heating oil, is stretching beyond all recognition. Heating is not a luxury for people; it is a necessity to prevent them getting sick and keep them warm during winter. The alternatives are not available. There is no just transition. There is a bigger and bigger green divide, or even a wealth transfer to people who can already afford it, while other people in older homes and rural areas cannot afford it. The Government continues to pile cost upon cost on people who have few alternatives.
Nowhere is that more apparent than with carbon tax. Sinn Féin has said that there should not be any more carbon tax increases. The Government cannot keep increasing the costs for rural families while failing to provide any alternatives to allow them to transition. It cannot tell people to stop relying on oil and cars and reduce their bills while refusing to deliver on public transport, energy infrastructure and supports to make that possible. Rural Ireland is being left behind and people see it in rising fuel costs, soaring home energy bills and few or no public transport services. They see communities being forgotten, while Ministers in Dublin tell them that everything is fine. The Government says it wants to support people in the here and now, but that is now. It means helping people, including pensioners who are worried about turning on the heating, to face another winter. It means recognising that many households are already struggling with bills such as mortgages, rent and childcare and cannot face any more. Some 500,000 people are in arrears on their energy bills. We need real action, not more words. The Government has totally failed.
Yesterday, Sinn Féin brought forward legislation to remove carbon tax from home heating oil. It was the eighth time we had sought action on this issue and the eighth time the Government parties or Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and some Independents had chosen to reject the proposals. People are not fools. They can see what is happening. They can see a Government that talks about helping families but repeatedly votes against commonsensical measures to put money back in people's pockets. It is a Government that is more than happy to collect billions of euro in tax revenue as prices rise while refusing to give meaningful, practical relief. The Government has failed to understand the pressure felt in the communities, but the House has a choice. It can continue down the road of higher costs, higher carbon taxes and more pressure on families or it can send a clear message that enough is enough, that rural Ireland matters, that heating homes is a necessity and that struggling families deserve support and not lectures. It can send a message that, when people are facing a crisis, the Government will say it has their back. For these reasons, I support the motion and encourage others to do so.

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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