2026-07-08

We welcome Deputy Callaghan's mother-in-law and father-in-law, Edie and Cyril Callaghan, from Churchill in Donegal, who are in the Public Gallery with the Deputy's husband, Dean. Go raibh maith agaibh agus fáilte roimh.

I move amendment No. 1 to Recommendation No. 1: To delete the text of subsection (2) and substitute the following: “(2) Section 99A of the Finance Act 1999 is further amended, with effect as on and from 1 July 2026, by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3): “(3) Where— (a) gas oil has been purchased on or after 1 January 2020 and before 1 January 2026, subject to a maximum repayment rate of €75.00 per 1,000 litres, the amount to be repaid per 1,000 litres of gas oil under subsection (2) is determined— (i) when P is less than or equal to €1,070, by the formula— A = (P - 1,000) x 0.3, or (ii) when P is greater than €1,070, by the formula— A = 21 + [(P - 1,070) x 0.6], or (b) gas oil has been purchased on or after 1 January 2026, subject to a maximum repayment rate of €120.00 per 1,000 litres, the amount to be repaid per 1,000 litres of gas oil under subsection (2) is determined— (i) when P is less than or equal to €1,070, by the formula— A = (P - 1,000) x 0.3, (ii) when P is greater than €1,070 and less than or equal to €1,150, by the formula— A = 21 + [(P - 1,070) x 0.675], or (iii) when P is greater than €1,150, by the formula— A is the amount to be repaid per 1,000 litres, and P is an estimate of the average price (exclusive of value-added tax) in euro per 1,000 litres of gas oil purchased by qualifying road transport operators during the repayment period, as determined in accordance with subsection (4).”.”. This is tied to the latter amendment and I will speak further at length on that. Recommendation No. 1 deals with the diesel rebate scheme, which operates within a window that closes on 1 October. That is the wrong decision and it should be extended beyond the budget to allow for a proper review of the cost of fuel during budget time in order to identify the appropriate window for the operation of the scheme. To decide to close it on 1 October is the wrong decision. The amendment seeks to remove the date of 1 October which leaves the scheme open ended, with the intention that it would be reviewed at the time of the budget, which is the following week, with a decision taken broadly not just on the diesel rebate scheme but also, as we will see in recommendation No. 2, the excise duty that will be placed on petrol and diesel and whether that would be appropriate, given the pressures the Government's decision would put on ordinary workers and families across the State.

Ireland's diesel rebate scheme operates in accordance with the EU's energy tax directive and the general block exemption regulation on state aid. In 2025, almost €40 million was paid out under the diesel rebate scheme. The temporary enhancement to the diesel rebate scheme has been agreed by Government in light of the severe fuel price impacts that have arisen following the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East. It is a short-term and targeted measure that helps to ease the burden of households and businesses across the State by minimising the inflationary impact of fuel cost spikes for road haulage and bus passenger services during this challenging period. I recall that Deputy Doherty previously raised the issues with the operation of the diesel rebate scheme. I am advised that Revenue has had ongoing engagement with the representative bodies in relation to the diesel rebate scheme. Revenue highlighted that incomplete and incorrect claims had given rise to the delays, as it had to contact claimants to request that claims be corrected and resubmitted. In order to assist claimants to better understand the types of errors and omissions that gave rise to these earlier delays, Revenue prepared a new list of frequently asked questions, which was published on its website last month at the request of one of the representative bodies. Deputy Doherty's amendment to section 1 of the Bill proposes to extend the time period for this measure, with a maximum rebate of 12 cent per litre indefinitely. We have always stated that these decisions were made on a temporary support basis and must be responsive to macroeconomic and energy market variables. The extension of the diesel rebate scheme to the end of September is appropriate in light of the severe impacts of the fuel crisis caused by the conflict in the Middle East. However, we cannot ignore that the prices of diesel and petrol have fallen substantially in recent weeks and, as regards global markets, that the price of a barrel of crude oil has fallen from a peak of $120 in late April to approximately $80 today. It is also worth noting that the diesel rebate scheme is a fossil fuel subsidy, the phasing out of which has been called for by the OECD and the European Commission, among others. In the long run, fossil fuel subsidies serve to maintain an over-dependence on fossil fuels and to weaken our climate policy and energy security. The long-term objective should be to phase out these subsidies, not to enhance them on a permanent basis. As per Central Statistics Office, CSO, data, fossil fuel subsidies amounted to €4.67 billion in 2014. Ireland's dependence on fossil fuels leaves households and businesses exposed to prices that are subject to volatility due to international market forces and over which the Government has little, if any, control. The subsidisation of fossil fuels can distort market signals and reduce the incentive to save energy and transition away from fossil fuels. While understanding that the heavy goods vehicle, HGV, sector is a hard-to-abate sector, new electronically charged trucks and buses are becoming increasingly popular in Europe as a whole and particularly in countries such as Sweden and the Netherlands. In the UK, 32% of new buses registered in quarter 1 of 2026 and 6% of new trucks were electrically chargeable. In Ireland, the corresponding figures are 6% and 1%, respectively. Incentivising the long-term use of diesel runs contrary to Ireland's environmental ambitions and legally binding emissions targets and would extend the reliance on imported fossil fuels. For the reasons outlined, I do not propose to accept Deputy Doherty's amendment. Furthermore, the proposal creates a charge on the people. As an Opposition amendment cannot create a charge on the taxpayer, I cannot legally accept it.

I move amendment No. 1 to Seanad recommendation No. 2: To delete from the row dated "1 September 2026" down to and including the row dated "1 May 2030" and substitute the following: " " If we needed a reminder of just how volatile, fragile and utterly unpredictable the situation in the Gulf remains, we were handed that stark reminder today with the news that Donald Trump has declared the ceasefire deal with Iran over and has launched fresh attacks. Everyone in this Chamber and everyone across the country hopes against hope that some semblance of a ceasefire can be maintained but we must be honest with ourselves. Hope is not a strategy. Hope is what we rely on when we have no control. It is not a substitute for prudent economic planning. There is zero certainty here. There are no guarantees that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open or that global supply lines will not be choked tomorrow morning. That constant looming threat of conflict is a direct risk in terms of energy prices rising again. The price of a barrel of oil has risen sharply only in the past few hours. That is precisely why Sinn Féin has consistently and repeatedly called for the excise duty on petrol and diesel to be kept exactly where it is. It needs to be held at the current level until it can be properly reviewed as part of the normal budget process in October. That is the only prudent and sensible thing to do. Instead, the Government has taken the reckless decision to lock in price increases that will kick in automatically when the Dáil is not even sitting. I simply do not understand or comprehend how the Government thinks it is appropriate or fair to legislate for a hike in the price of petrol and diesel that will come into effect on 1 September. The Minister has tried to comfort us in the past by stressing that everything will be kept under review. We need to cut through that spin. The reality is that this legislation, in effect, commits the State to price increases without a single shred of visibility as to where fuel prices will be in the future. Let us look at the timeline because the optics and the reality is damning. Next week, this House will rise, the doors of Leinster House will be locked and Ministers will head off on their summer holidays. Their parting gift to ordinary Irish people across the State will be to have locked in fuel price increases that will hit them in their pockets. By Christmas, they will see the price of diesel increase by 34 cent and the price of petrol increase by a staggering 29 cent. That is what the Government is asking us to vote for today. We need to think about what it actually means for people in real life, including people in my constituency of Donegal, people in Mayo and people in rural communities right across the State who have no access to public transport and no alternative but to get in their car to go to work, drop their kids to school or visit a neighbour or elderly relative. As if that were not good enough, the Government is not just hitting people with increases on petrol and diesel. On top of that, it is going to hit them with an increase in the cost of home heating oil, natural gas and a basic bag of coal. That increase will kick in in October, right when the days are getting shorter and the nights colder and right when families are forced to turn back on the heating. As I have said in the House numerous times, the carbon tax is regressive. In 2022, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, stated that it is well know that the tax is regressive. Research by the University of Galway found that carbon taxes are "regressive in all countries", with the only question being how regressive they are. I urge the Minister of State, even at this late stage, to talk to his colleagues and reconsider their approach of increasing fuel costs. We cannot control what happens in the Gulf or in the United States but we can control what we do right here and now in this Chamber. We can control the level of taxation we place on petrol and diesel. The Minister of State can do the right thing here. He can use the levers of taxation to release the pressure and burden on ordinary people across the State. People are stressed out and under serious pressure. Let there be no doubt that under the current prices, and remembering that the barrel is now getting dearer, we will see people being forced to pay well over €2 for a litre of diesel. That is not acceptable and it is why we in Sinn Féin have tabled this amendment to say that these price increases should not be going ahead and that prices should be properly monitored at the appropriate time. We must release the pressure on ordinary families throughout the State, not, as provided for in this legislation, increase the price of diesel on 1 September, 1 October, 14 October, 1 November and again on 1 December. That is a wallop to people right across the State who are asking the Government to lift the pressure and burden on them on so many fronts. What they do not need is increase after increase but that is exactly what is set out in the Bill. I urge Members to support the Sinn Féin amendment because it represents what ordinary people throughout the country have been telling me they need. I have told them I will bring their voice into the Dáil. If they had the chance to stand here, they would be saying that they have faced serious pressure over the past number of years and they need support at this time. They do not need the Government deciding to put up the price of diesel by 34 cent between now and 1 December. It is scandalous, to tell the God's honest truth, and it should be stopped.

As a Government, we stated at the very outset that we would monitor the situation closely and reserve the right to adjust our response, as required. We remain committed to that position. That is the position we have held from the get-go. Since this conflict broke out in the Middle East, we have remained agile and made a number of interventions. The last time we spoke in this Chamber, Deputy Doherty said that the price was going to go up on 31 July, that we would be on holidays, that there would be a cliff edge and that it was wrong. He was wrong, because I said to him during that debate that no firm decision had been taken. A decision had been made to monitor the ongoing situation and we had an opportunity to make changes, and that is exactly what we are doing. It is not going up on 31 July. We have consistently said that we would avoid cliff edges and the removal of supports and that is what we are doing. A couple of weeks ago, the Deputy said that there would be a cliff edge. He has to acknowledge that in recent weeks there has been an easing in wholesale energy prices, with spot prices for crude oil remaining at around $80 a barrel today. It was below $75 yesterday. It has peaked today because of the intervention of President Trump, but there is no knowing what that could be tomorrow. I think the Deputy will agree with that. Even with the peak today, that is considerably lower than where the wholesale prices were in April of this year, at $120 a barrel. I acknowledge that the Deputy is right when he says recent developments mean the situation remains fluid. There will be further ebbs and flows before a new equilibrium is reached. However, we have already seen a tentative easing in the CSO's inflation figures for June, with the headline rate of annual inflation moderating slightly to 3.3% and energy prices falling by 2% in the month. In line with the easing in wholesale commodity prices, retail prices for fuels have fallen in recent weeks. A further easing of retail prices may be anticipated as lower wholesale prices gradually feed through to prices at the forecourt. More generally, while short-term cyclical pressures tentatively appear to be easing, the longer term structural challenges remain. Put simply, we need to accelerate the transition away from imported fossil fuels. That is the lesson of two fossil fuel shocks in the space of half a decade. Sinn Féin's amendment proposes to end the carbon tax trajectory and pause fuel excise at current rates indefinitely. It also proposes to reduce carbon tax to zero on kerosene used other than as propellant. The Opposition's amendment seems to want to lock Ireland into fossil fuel dependence for decades to come. It has ignored the fact that Government policies on the environment have been effective. This morning's EPA report shows that Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions decreased for the fourth year in a row in 2025, declining by 2.2%, to leave emissions 14.5% below 2018 levels. In particular, residential emissions reduced by 5% in 2025 and are at their lowest level since 1990, despite an increase in housing stock during this time. Residential usage of coal, oil and gas declined by 13.5%, 4.6% and 5.2%, respectively, on 2024 levels, while energy used by heat pumps increased by 21.9%. However, the EPA also said that annual emissions need to fall four and a half times faster than they did last year if Ireland is to meet its legally binding climate targets of lowering emissions by 51% by 2030. At a time when the Government continues to do more for Ireland's energy security, Sinn Féin wants us to do less. Abolishing the carbon tax trajectory would mean less funding for climate initiatives that have been effective and are proven to benefit those in lower income deciles. As of budget 2026, the Government has allocated over €4.2 billion in carbon tax revenue for these purposes since 2020. ESRI analysis consistently shows that the lower income deciles are better off as a result of the social protection measures funded by the increased carbon tax. In budget 2026, over €1.1 billion was allocated to climate action measures and to ensure the most vulnerable are protected from the unintended impacts of the increase. This was an increase on the 2025 allocation and included funding of €566 million for retrofitting programmes, the just transition and the official development assistance, ODA, green climate fund. A further €350 million was allocated for targeted social welfare interventions, such as the fuel allowance, and €173 million for green and sustainable farming measures. It is clear that people want to decouple from fossil fuels. Applications to the SEAI, so far in 2026, have doubled year on year. Over 55,000 applications were processed between January and the end of May. Schemes like this are funded from carbon tax. Since 2019, SEAI schemes have provided over €1.8 billion in supports to homeowners for over 268,000 home energy improvements. This includes over 36,000 fully funded upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty. As the House will be aware, those are people in receipt of the fuel allowance. In the most recent budget, 40,000 new households benefited from eligibility for fuel allowance. The Government wants to continue to help households decarbonise and minimise their overall energy bills, whereas the proposed Sinn Féin amendment would come at great ongoing cost to the Exchequer and jeopardise other areas of investment. The package of Government support measures, which now totals over €1 billion, is helping to reduce the cost burden at the petrol pump. It supports those most at risk of energy poverty and assists key sectors, such as agriculture and haulage, that are critical to keeping our economy moving. These measures are deliberately time-bound and targeted, because our approach must be both responsive and responsible. The Government will continue to act in a way that protects the most vulnerable and sustains our economic stability. For the reasons outlined, I do not propose to accept Deputy Doherty's amendment.

I will press the amendment. To be clear, because the Minister of State would like us to forget what happened, this is the Bill coming back from the Seanad. In case people do not know what has happened here, this Bill has already passed through the Dáil. It is very unusual when a Bill has to come back into the Dáil after it has been passed. The reason is that the Government has had to change what it was trying to put into law, which was the 34 cent increase in August. It had to change that because of the pressure we in Sinn Féin applied. The Minister of State can shake his head all he wants. There was also a fear among the Government of the risen people and of people taking to the streets again and saying, "We are having none of it, because this is a Government that doesn't understand the pressure we're under." The Government was trying to put into law, in black and white, an increase of 34 cent. The Government actually passed that in this House, with the support, unfortunately, of some of the Opposition parties. That does not take away, however, from what is in this Bill, because all the Government has done is kick the can down the road. Thirty-four cent is still going to go onto the price of diesel. It will just happen in different stages and it will be fully on the price of diesel by 1 December. I am saying this very clearly because I would not be able to go back to my constituency in Donegal, hold my head up, talk to people who elected me to have their backs, be their voice and stand up for them and say that I voted to increase the price of diesel by 34 cent. It will not happen in Sinn Féin's name. I will press the amendment because there is an alternative and I ask Deputies across the House to support the amendment and, more important, to support hard-working people across the State.

May I respond?

The amendment has been pressed, but go ahead.

The point I am making quite clearly is that there is a mechanism. That is why we have two Chambers in the Oireachtas. There is a mechanism to use the Seanad to amend legislation and to bring it back here. I was abundantly clear that evening with the Deputy in the debate that this situation was being kept under review and that there would be no cliff edge. What we were doing was the prudent thing to do. We were waiting to see how international oil prices were fluctuating over the last two weeks before we made a final call on how we would phase out the temporary measures. As a Government, we knew exactly what we were doing. It was not because of what the Deputy said here. It was fully planned that we would use the legislative mechanism that is there to introduce it in the Seanad, assess the international prices at the time and take a responsible and prudent decision, reaffirming that there would be no cliff edge and that there would be a phased reintroduction over a period of time. That is the decision the Government has taken. Neither the Deputy nor I can say with any certainty what way oil prices will be on 1 September. However, what I can say is that based on our track record over the last number of months, we will continue to monitor the situation. We will be back here after the summer recess. I do not know about Deputy Doherty, but I certainly will not be off for eight weeks. He continuously pointed that out. You would swear the only people going on holidays were on this side of the House. The Government will continue to meet. Work will continue ongoing, as I am sure Deputy Doherty will also. We will monitor the situation and we can, as we have in the past, use opportunities to make further interventions as necessary. Neither Deputy Doherty or I can tell with any certainty where the prices are or where they are going to be on 1 September or 1 October. It is worth noting, if we look at the international market today, that Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal all have noticeably higher prices at the petrol pumps than we have today because of the intervention we have taken. It is also worth noting that the interventions this Government has taken, although the Deputy may not agree with all of them, per capita have been some of the most generous and largest interventions of any of our European counterparts on a problem that is not unique to Ireland but is across the globe.

The agreement to the Seanad recommendations is reported to the House and a message will be sent to Seanad Éireann acquainting it accordingly.