Energy Prices

3. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will report on the recent energy price hikes; the measures he is taking to address this; if he will reintroduce an electricity credit in budget 2027; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65939/26]

6. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to discuss energy costs. [66297/26]

It is interesting that the Minister mentioned the task force because I wanted to speak to him about the recent energy price hikes and what resources he is taking to address those. What will the budget say? Will there be an energy credit? Will the Minister commit that there will be no carbon tax increases? What other supports will be available for households facing soaring heating costs this winter?

I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 6 together. I cannot announce the budget yet but I understand that energy will be an important part of it. To deal with both the questions, we know the situation in the Middle East. That is having a serious impact on prices. That follows from the continuing illegal war in Ukraine, which has caused significant disruption to energy markets. I and the Government fully recognise the pressures the resulting high prices are placing on Irish consumers and businesses. We have introduced a series of measures to reduce fuel prices and further measures are under consideration through the energy affordability task force and as part of the budgetary process. Specifically on fuel, the package of Government support measures, which now totals over €1.4 billion and which is the largest per capita in the European Union, is helping to reduce the cost burden at the petrol pump and diesel pump and assists key sectors such as agriculture, haulage and the productive sectors that are critical to keeping our economy moving. A range of measures in budget 2026 also supported households, including the reduction of VAT on electricity and gas to 9% right the way through to 2030; enhanced social protection payments, in particular the extension of the fuel allowance payment to those in receipt of the working family payment, that is, about 468,000 households; and the €400 income tax disregard for households involved in microgeneration. Very importantly, there has been a record allocation of over €640 million for residential and community grant schemes through the SEAI, allowing us to target 73,000 households this year. Why is that really important? It is because when we retrofit homes and businesses, we bring about permanent savings for those households and businesses. I amended the grants earlier this year. We have seen a really significant increase in the number of applications. In some areas they have doubled because we have broken them down. You do not have to do just one deep retrofit. We brought in windows and doors grants, wall cavity and attic insulation grants and a heat pump grant of €12,500. To the end of August, we got 89,000 applications. That is more than in all of last year, so people are responding to the supports that are there. It is important from a climate perspective that we are reducing energy consumption and emissions from households and businesses, but critically it is decreasing costs. As far as we can estimate, a home retrofit can lead to savings of between €750 and €1,120 per annum on energy costs. These are real measures. If anything, during the course of the budget I want to accelerate that and look at other areas we can help through permanent changes. Other areas are under consideration in advance of the budget. The national energy affordability task force, NEAT, will feed into that, and we are in the middle of budget discussions right now. A big focus will be on continuing and accelerating the retrofitting programme. We have done approximately 287,000 homes and approximately €2 billion has been invested there since 2019. That is an area where we need to refocus our efforts and accelerate delivery. There are those who are struggling with energy. While the 90 days arrears figures have plateaued, they are still a concern. I will say to people that if they are in arrears they should ensure they engage with their energy providers and enter into repayment arrangements. No one who is engaging with energy companies will be cut off. We will have protections during the course of the winter. Our disconnection rates are absolutely miniscule, and rightly so. However, we have to continue doing everything we can to work to soften the blow of increases we are seeing right the way across the world and the European Union.

The Minister mentioned some of the schemes like retrofitting and heat pumps. Does he accept that he is way behind on his targets? There is a crowd called Centrica, which, when the State sold off the family silver 15 years ago, bought Bord Gáis Energy. Centrica made a profit of only €814 million last year, which was way down from €1.55 billion the year before. Its energy section, Bord Gáis Energy, made profits of €72.5 million. They are the ones increasing their bills. We know all about the geopolitical conflict and all of that, but the Government has the resources to make extra direct commitments to people who are struggling, such as not increasing, or removing, the carbon tax on home heating oil in particular and dealing with other energy credits. With the windfall profits they are making, there should be extra charges and an extra tax on those windfall profits.

I want to talk about the price of green diesel. It has gone up to €1.60. There is no package in place for construction works vehicles, even though the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach promised it in early May and the Taoiseach reiterated it where the Minister is sitting now. He said that construction vehicles would be included. They are involved in construction of houses and roads and everything. The vehicles involved include rollers, diggers, graders, dumpers and teleporters. None of those vehicles have been included even though the promise was made. The Minister mentioned it himself. They have not been included. Since 1 September, farmers have been left hanging. That is why I did not vote for what the Government proposed in this Chamber on 28 August. Farmers and agricultural contractors were not included on 28 August. The Government has €100 million left over after some scheme. Where is that now? Who has it? Are they going to spend it and give it out? People have parked bigger machinery because they cannot afford to run it. That is going to have a detrimental effect.

I turn first to Deputy Daly and the area of potential windfall taxes on energy companies. That is something being discussed at EU-wide level. It was discussed in Brussels when I was there earlier this month. If there is an approach on that it will probably be a pan-European approach. The Taoiseach referred to it yesterday. The last time, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, approximately €200 million was collected. It is not going to move the dial on energy bills, but it might give the State more in its armoury to make permanent changes to households such as acceleration of solar and things we are doing already. I turn to Deputy Healy-Rae. I will answer the other one, but the scheme I am responsible for is the road transport support scheme, which is for the hauliers. There were more than 4,000 applications. More than 3,000 have been paid out already. We are working through the rest of them and there will be an appeals process once that scheme closes. Agricultural contractors were included in the original scheme managed by the Department and the Minister for agriculture. However, the Deputy is correct to say that the Government did agree on a scheme in relation to construction vehicles. That is being worked through at the moment. Again, that does not fall directly under my remit but as a member of Government, it is a Government decision that has been made. What we have been and are working to now over the coming few weeks are the measures we can take in the budget. One is about permanent changes and the second is on supports and what can be done there. We have to focus it on those who need it most. More than a quarter of Irish households receive direct fuel support payments. It is unquestionably a difficult time across the world with regard to elevated prices. We will do our best, but we are not going to be able to deal with every single cost increase.

For the last part of this I want to focus on home heating oil. As the Minister knows, the prices for home heating oil have surged by approximately 60% over the past year. It particularly affects people in rural areas and people in older houses. A lot of those people have not had the resources or the funds to pay for solar upfront or to pay for retrofitting. They feel excluded from this scheme. People in those families need relief, which means reducing or removing the carbon tax on this home heating oil and reintroducing the energy credits worth at least €400 per household. They are the fairest approach. Everybody can benefit from it. Will the Minister commit to looking at that in the budget and making some real difference to the people living in fuel poverty?

Maybe that is what is wrong. If the Minister is not responsible for the construction industry, and Martin Heydon certainly is not because he is the Minister for agriculture, maybe that is where the problem lies. The facts are that the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach promised that construction and the vehicles involved in construction would be covered. Many of those construction companies were locked into prices they had for jobs at the start of the year and locked into contracts. The Tánaiste even mentioned quarries and processing materials. None of those people have got one bob yet. I am asking in the name of God - does the Minister think these people can carry on in the wind? Green diesel has gone from 90 cent last January up to €1.68 yesterday. Everything I know is using green diesel. The Government has seen after the haulage, but I have to say that is the tax that they have paid. The Government did not find it anywhere else. It came from them and the Government is only giving it back to those people. It is the same with the people who are paying for green diesel. The Government will have to do something for them. Every machine involved in civil works, maintenance of roads and maintenance of waterworks is using green diesel and they have got nothing. How long more is it going to take to develop a scheme for them?

First, we recognise that €1.4 billion of supports have been brought in already. I do not think anyone will dispute that.

I am going to get to it. We have to put it in context. That is not a small amount of money. That is a major support and marked diesel was included in that in the context of the excise reductions.

It was 3 cent.

Actually, when you look at it overall it is approximately 7 cent per litre. In fairness, the question put by the Deputy relates to progress with the establishment of the scheme for construction contractors that are not covered under the other two schemes. On foot of the Deputy raising this, I will make urgent inquiries with regard to the progress on that scheme. We provided significant moneys to the haulage sector, and rightly so. I was at the Irish Road Haulage Association's conference in Killarney in the Deputy's county the week before last and addressed about 900 delegates there. They are very important to our society and economy, as are construction contractors. To get back to Deputy Daly's question, home heating oil is an area where we have seen significant increases. We have stated already that, in particular, there is a reliance in rural Ireland - not exclusively but the majority is in rural Ireland - on home heating oil. We are very aware of the substantial increases in that space. I, the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach are working on proposals around that. We will work through that between now and the budget. The provisions that will be in the budget will be announced on budget day. We have not concluded the work on that. Suffice to say we are acutely aware of the issue around home heating oil and, as I mentioned already, the issue around accelerating the deployment of further grants to make permanent changes to households and businesses.