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

Michael Cahill (FF), Kerry

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion on fuel, energy and carbon tax relief. This issue matters enormously to people in my constituency of Kerry and across rural Ireland. When we talk about energy prices in this House, we have to remember that behind every statistic is a family, an individual trying to heat his or her home, a person trying to get to work or a small business trying to keep its doors open. In Kerry, many households are particularly exposed to the cost of home heating oil. For those families, filling an oil tank can mean a significant one-off expense. It is very different from receiving a monthly electricity bill and for many people it can create a serious cashflow challenge.
Energy arrears remain at historically high levels. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, reported earlier this year that 316,000 domestic electricity customers and 179,000 domestic gas customers were in arrears, with average debts of €492 and €207 respectively. There is absolutely no question that affordability remains a serious issue but we also need to be honest about what Government can and cannot control. Energy prices are heavily influenced by international wholesale markets and geopolitical developments. The State cannot determine the international price of oil or gas and Mr. Trump has made hundreds of thousands of lives here at home and throughout the globe an absolute misery, of that there is no doubt.
What can Government do to protect households from these pressures? There has already been a very significant response. We have strengthened supports for people on lower incomes, including through the fuel allowance, and we have invested substantially in energy efficiency and retrofitting. Those measures are important because we should not simply be dealing with high energy bills year after year. We also need to reduce the amount of energy that households need to purchase in the first place. There are also measures taking effect in the electricity market. From October, the public service obligation levy is being reduced by 66%, while the CRU has reviewed network charges to limit the impact on customers. That is the type of practical intervention that can make a real difference to household bills.
On the motion before us, budget 2027 is just two weeks away. That is the appropriate point at which to consider the full package of measures, including taxation, energy costs, income supports and the cost-of-living crisis. We should look at the evidence and ensure that whatever measures are introduced are targeted towards the people who are experiencing the greatest pressure, including people in Kerry who are dependent on home heating oil. I will certainly be looking at what the forthcoming budget does to address these pressures. We should continue to invest in retrofitting and energy efficiency because making a home warmer and more efficient provides a longer-term benefit to the family than simply responding to a price spike. The CRU has also highlighted that suppliers have obligations to work with customers experiencing payment difficulties, including affordable repayment arrangements and protections against disconnection where customers are engaging with their supplier.

---

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