Fuel, Energy and Carbon Tax Relief: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23
============================================================

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (SF), Donegal

Hundreds of thousands of families heat their homes with home heating oil. I can speak with authority. In Donegal, most families rely on home heating oil. They are facing into the winter and a fill costing €1,600. Last year, it was €900. It is a massive burden, particularly for older and vulnerable families.
People who live in Donegal are being penalised for making a choice they do not have. Where will older people get the money to retrofit their homes? How can people get to work without driving a car, van or lorry in a place like Donegal where the public transport system just is not there? They are being penalised for making a choice they do not actually have. This is nonsense. The Government has been doing this for years. It is not listening, but now we are at a profound point because our electricity is the most expensive in Europe. Home heating oil is at an unmanageable level and petrol and diesel are at the level they are at now. The Government has been slow to respond again and again.
I will talk about electricity.
The last time the Government gave energy credits was when people were voting at the last election. The cynicism is unbelievable. My colleague, Deputy Pa Daly, who is our energy spokesperson, has revealed that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has only met one of the energy companies this year. He has met just one, back in January. There are three he has not met at all. The Government is doing nothing to confront the energy companies about profiteering. It is giving families no energy credits. It has provided no clarity on home heating oil and has not taken one cent off the price throughout this crisis. That is why people are so angry. That is why there is again talk of protests. There is no urgency. There is cynicism. The Government is not listening to people. We in the Opposition are going to continue to come in here to tell the Government the truth as we see it in our communities and to hold the Government to account until it wakes up and does what needs to be done.

---

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/2026-09-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-23