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

Joanna Byrne (SF), Louth

There is a lot in this motion, which I thank Independent Ireland for bringing forward, but I will focus on petrol and diesel prices for now as successive Government policies have made my home town of Drogheda a commuter town. Decisions by Fianna Fáil governments that there should be a focus on just one town in a county - in the case of Louth, that is Dundalk - has seen foreign direct investment and a lot of jobs go to Dundalk while jobs continually leave Drogheda. The closure of BD, which employed hundreds of skilled workers, is the most recent example. According to the last census and the Drogheda business improvement districts, BID, commuter survey, 8,000 people leave Drogheda every day and almost 15,000 leave the wider area of south Louth and east Meath to commute over an hour to work, usually here in Dublin. Some 65% of those surveyed leave for work before 7 a.m. and do not return until after 6.30 p.m. Because of the huge increases in fuel prices, they are paying a fortune for the privilege of doing so. That was the last census. With the huge increase in the number of residents in Drogheda thanks to the house building boom along the port access northern cross route and with job losses locally, that figure of 15,000 is sure to rise in the next census.
This State ran a surplus of €12.5 billion last year, over €2 billion more than the Government projected on budget day. It has the resources to make a real difference but has refused to do so thus far. What sorts of prices do we need to see on the forecourts before this Government steps up? Nobody wants to see people forced to once again launch protests against fuel and energy prices, shutting the country down. I ask the Government to please not let us get to that point. We in Sinn Féin have brought forward legislation to reduce taxes on petrol, diesel and home heating oil. Cuts to taxes on diesel would have made up roughly of that, with green diesel, petrol and home heating oil cuts making up the majority of the rest. Our proposals would have made a real difference to my constituents in the Drogheda, south Louth and east Meath area and to others around the State who commute daily and who are now paying well over €2.20 per litre of diesel. This cannot become the new normal. The Government parties can remedy this problem if the Government legislates for the good of the people of Ireland and cuts the taxes. It needs to lift the burden of people whose backs are against the wall with the rising cost of petrol, diesel and home heating oil.

---

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