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that proper debate. Farmers, the hard-squeezed middle, fishermen and other people are facing a serious crisis. People cannot put heating oil into their home heating tanks this evening. They expected a proper break but they did not get it and we need a proper debate on that

today. Temperatures are dropping rapidly as winter approaches. Household heating bills are rising just as fast. One million households across Ireland use oil for home heating, representing 38.9% of all households. The price of their bills has rocketed up by 9% in just one month

this Government called the carbon tax. We would freeze any increase to enable our elderly and families to fill the tank of oil at home, heat the house or put the diesel or petrol into the car to do their normal daily work. We were willing to deliver

really concerned about being able to heat their homes. They are just saying they can no longer afford the bills they have to pay. A lot of people in the west of Ireland, as the Minister knows, rely on oil for heating. They are now going to have … something that is completely and utterly out of their hands. Thousands of rural households have no other choice but to use oil to heat their homes. They are being forced to live in freezing cold homes this winter because of this Government. Climate action cannot come

Ireland as an example, this is having a huge impact on people who have no other choice but to use oil to heat their homes and use the car to get to work. These are essentials if people are to work and live, but they are being treated

ensure the electricity was not cut off. I am extremely worried now as we face winter. We can't afford oil to heat our home. We are drowning in bills and we are struggling to stay afloat. This is what the rip-off means in real life

owning our own home feels completely alien to use. It feels out of touch and out of reach. We are struggling. The both of us are working. I am a healthcare worker and my husband is in construction. We cannot afford to keep heating oil in our tank … This is what they are saying. This is what is going on. People have given up hope. In Donegal, heating oil is used to heat 85% of homes. Over the past month, people have had to find an extra €700 which they simply cannot get. The oil

recognise its importance in Offaly and the surrounding areas. Our programme for Government commits to targeting older homes still using oil to switch to renewable heating systems and to consider the use of sustainable biofuels to reduce emissions from existing home boilers where deep retrofits are not always

other fuels up to 2030. In April, the Government deferred the 1 May 2026 carbon tax increase on home heating fuels and marked gas oil, MGO, until October in light of the extraordinary circumstances and increased fuel prices created by the conflict in the Middle East

price of petrol and diesel. Also earlier this year, it put up the price of gas and heating oil to keep people's homes warm. Just in the last weeks, the Government has ensured that rents will go up for new renters right across the State, including students

enhance energy efficiency and reduce costs, supporting group retrofitting projects and area-based approaches to retrofitting, targeting older homes still using oil to switch to renewable heating systems and considering the use of sustainable bioliquids to reduce emissions from existing home boilers where deep retrofits are not possible

crossfire between climate policy and home heating regulations. For many, moving from turf to a full retrofit is simply not financially feasible or logistically possible. As outlined in the programme for Government, and with the renewable heating obligation … scheme due before Cabinet, I urge the Tánaiste to seriously consider low-carbon fuel alternatives such as hydrotreated vegetable oil, HVO, with a 20% blend for home heating, and wood pellets. These fuel options would offer a realistic lower-emissions bridge for households moving away from peat where

manage at the end of the month or the end of the week? They are already dipping their oil tanks to see whether they can afford to heat their homes or whether they can afford to put food in their trolleys when going around the supermarket. They have

rural areas do not have access to cash, they have no alternative. They rely on electricity, oil and solid fuel, often in older homes that are expensive to heat. When prices go up, they have nowhere to turn and fuel poverty sets in quickly. I saw that clearly … pushes transparency and accountability, but legislation alone will not keep homes warm. People need practical help and they need it now. Energy is an essential service. No one should be forced to choose between heating and eating. That is why stronger regulations, real affordability measures and the return

ultimately increasing prices for consumers; — households dependent on kerosene and other home-heating fuels, particularly throughout rural Ireland, face significant additional costs as the winter period approaches and frequently have no immediately available or affordable alternative heating source; — businesses which manufacture, produce or supply goods and transport those … fossil fuels, including rural commuters, farmers, contractors, hauliers and households dependent on oil heating; — further increases in carbon tax are already provided for under existing legislation and will further increase the cost of transport and home heating unless those increases are abolished; — Dáil Éireann was recently recalled

struggling to heat their homes. That started before this crisis. The numbers of pensioners in poverty, in insecure housing and in homelessness are all increasing. There is certainly going to be a serious rise in the number of pensioners who cannot afford to put oil in their tanks … decide whether it is going to act on oil. This disproportionately affects the people in the west of Ireland. The people in the west of Ireland have had enough. They should be allowed to heat their homes

response to the climate crisis. I completely accept that there are people in homes who may have no other option right now than to remain on oil and gas heating but carve-outs in the carbon tax system that would protect the most financially vulnerable are possible … permanent cost-of-living crisis. People are being squeezed from every angle, be it grocery inflation, the cost of renting and buying a home, and childcare costs, something this Government has been conspicuously silent on since its pre-election commitment to reduce fees to €200 a month

Middle East, where the sharp and ongoing disruption to oil and gas production has resulted in higher global energy prices. Around the world, including here in Ireland, we have seen customers face higher prices for transport and home heating fuel. I know the House will share my concern … National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, levy from 2 cent per litre to a nominal amount, effectively zero, for a two-month period. The reduction will come into effect from 1 April until 1 June 2026. The Government has reduced the rate of mineral oil tax for petrol, diesel

should ask workers and families if they can afford to heat their homes, ask them if they are getting into debt to survive, ask elderly people if they are afraid to switch on the heating and ask parents if they are skipping meals so their children … oil tax Bill must be enacted and the planned carbon tax increases must be scrapped. People need relief now, not more excuses or delays, and not more spin. We need the Government to stand with ordinary people. We need elderly and vulnerable people to be able to heat

prepaid meters that are going without heat or running the credit until it runs out. Those people, who are sitting in cold homes, never show up in the official arrears data. Neither do families who cannot afford to fill their oil tanks before winter sets in. This crisis … debate is important. That is what this debate comes down to. Whose side is the Government on? When families are choosing between heating their homes and putting food on the table, the answer cannot be to do nothing. When pensioners are afraid to switch on the heat

international volatility in the cost of oil and gas. A huge investment of public money, €750 million, and not one cent of that will provide energy security in Irish homes. Last April, the Government voted one-off payments for heat pumps and electric vehicles but did nothing about

have a warm home. It is quite cold for this time of the year. Those who are lucky enough to have turf have their fires lighting. Many people cannot afford heating because of the cost of electricity and the cost of the heating oil. Nothing was done … Government to go back to what I asked on 24 March when it forgot about the people on green diesel and heating oil. When green diesel went up 80 cent, the Government offered 3 cent. When green diesel is at €1 per litre the Government should

work and 100 km home every day. We live in the midlands because we can't afford to live in Dublin but we really can't afford to live here either. We're barely surviving. Our main source of heat is oil. We ran out two weeks

practical to replace a working oil or gas boiler with a heat pump, particularly when it comes to the need for a sealed house. We can look to our counterparts in Europe to see what we can do to make heat pumps more attractive. Ultimately, however … which I welcome. District heating is a good win for the country. We can leverage waste heat from data centres, dare I say it, and use waste to energy and anaerobic digestion. If done properly, a lot of it involves low-carbon heating. It would be very positive

Trump and Netanyahu's illegal wars has illustrated in no uncertain terms the financial costs associated with our continued dependence on oil and gas. Maybe we finally have an argument for a switch to renewables that even the climate sceptics will listen to now that their pockets … being impacted. Time and again, workers here have been expected to absorb the consequences of global geopolitical upheaval through higher petrol prices, higher home heating costs and more expensive commutes. The eruption in frustration and anger that we saw on our streets last week was the result