2026-04-16

85. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the steps he is taking to shield households from the energy crisis triggered by the US and Israeli attack on Iran; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26188/26]

What steps is the Minister taking to shield households from the energy crisis, which has been triggered by the US and Israeli attacks on Iran? Will he make a statement about it? He will have seen that over the past couple of weeks, the Government lost the confidence of the people, even one of its own Ministers. The Government has not done enough, particularly for people whose home heating oil bills have effectively been doubled. There are 750,000 households affected, often in rural areas, often in single dwellings, and often with older people. What are they supposed to make of the Taoiseach saying he hopes they will have a good summer while the cost of filling their tank has nearly doubled?

As Ministers and as TDs, we fully understand the pressures households and businesses are under due to the price increases because of the outbreak of the war in the Middle East. It is a global situation that every country is grappling with. By any fair assessment, the intervention that the Irish Government has made on behalf of its people amounts to multiples of the value of others made in the EU. It is about 7. 5 times greater, per capita, than that of Germany. It is the largest one that any state has actually made to support businesses and households. I refer to the reductions in excise on diesel, including agricultural and green diesel, and petrol, and also to the reduction to the National Oil Reserves Agency levy. All of these add up to a significant saving. People are still under pressure, absolutely. We get that, and that is why the measures we bring forward have to be targeted. One quarter of Irish households, or about 470,000, receive direct supports through fuel allowance payments. We have extended these for a further month. We increased the payment per week in the budget. We have increased that further in a time-bound manner, effectively by extending it for a further month. We are not going to be able to protect every sector from every price increase. Obviously, what we want to see is a de-escalation of the conflict and a return to normality. What it does speak to as well is the absolute need for us to continue to accelerate energy generation from renewable sources. On a positive note, we saw last month, in March, that 49% of our electricity was generated through renewables. We are continuing to accelerate the deployment of renewables to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel, which is a risk for this State and many others. We are dependent on other countries for the energy that we use. This conflict, in particular, means we need to accelerate the deployment of renewables further. I assume I will receive the support of the Opposition in doing that.

We saw yesterday the Taoiseach clapping himself on the back because, since 2022, the worst of the rises in electricity bills had been cushioned by supports given by the Government. In this regard, there were electricity credits promised in the run-up to the election. However, the supports have been stripped away, leaving ordinary householders even more exposed. Compounding matters was the dismissive attitude of the Taoiseach. The Minister may or may not wish to comment on the Taoiseach’s comment that he hopes there is a good summer ahead for people. Would the Minister consider removing the excise duty on home heating oil, decreasing it by €200 per tank, and introducing more concrete measures to deal with what is effectively a doubling in price, particularly for people in rural areas? We are already paying the highest electricity prices in the EU. There has been a failure by the Government to deal with this. Electricity credits have been stripped away and the response does not go far enough.

The Taoiseach has not been dismissive in any way, nor has the Government as a whole. Maybe the Deputy could explain why his party was the only one on the Opposition benches to vote against every excise reduction when the first round of packages was introduced, on 25 March? It did that again this week. It voted against the measures introduced by the Government in the Dáil by way of financial resolutions to reduce costs for households and businesses. Sinn Féin was the only Opposition party on 25 March to vote against the initial package, worth €250 million. I do not understand that. Sinn Féin is for abolishing the carbon tax. The carbon tax retrofits homes and businesses to protect them, reduce their energy use and make them more efficient. It is a good climate measure, but it is also a really good cost-saving measure. Sinn Féin has never explained where it would get the €660 million or so that we are going to invest this year to retrofit 73,000 homes, and also the carbon tax revenue that deals with the agri-climate environment scheme, other such schemes and business support grants. Where is that money coming from? Where would Sinn Féin get the money for a proposed further cut in excise to the tune of about €200 million?

Unfortunately, last time I checked it was oral questions to the Minister and not questions for the Opposition. Unfortunately, the Minister has not dealt with my questions. That he answered a question with a question makes me wonder whether he is from Kerry, by any chance. He has not answered any of the questions we have asked. What specifically will he do to ease the burden on rural householders posed by the price of home heating oil? The protests over the last week are the tipping point. They are the final straw for people who are already struggling from week to week, often in households with dual incomes. I have spoken to a lot of people who have been working in farming or in factories. Their partners might also be working, maybe in the HSE, but those people are struggling and unfortunately the measures have not been enough. The package the Minister spoke about was half baked and was not complete. It did nothing, and the people's response will show that it did nothing to address the matter.

It is not a fair assessment to say we have done nothing. Ours was the largest intervention that has been made in the EU. I simply asked the question of Sinn Féin, as the main Opposition party and the one that presents itself as the potential alternative Government after the next election, in 2029, where it would get the money from? How would it pay for the retrofitting of houses and businesses? How would it pay for solar grants and heat pump grants? How would it pay for all the things that ensure the 244,000 homes already retrofitted are protected from aspects of price increases because they are using renewable sources? It has just never been explained to me. It is important that Sinn Féin do that. I could go through all of the measures. Sinn Féin knows all the measures that we introduced, because it voted against them all. I really do not understand its position in this regard either. Sinn Féin was the only Opposition party to oppose decreases in costs to consumers, including households. It just does not stand up.