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diesel in the UK than here. We are strangling the development of that particular SME sector by increasing the cost of fuel, including diesel, every year. Extra holidays will be legislated for. That is another cost to carry. There are also warehouse rents, planning permission, general regulation … sector and into haulage and logistics and get very little profit out of it. There is no encouragement there. Then, when a crisis is reached and drivers are wanted, it is nearly impossible to get them into the State. I have been asking for a greater effort

barrel. The price today is $101 per barrel, almost one third cheaper, yet consumers are paying exorbitant rates for their fuel. The biggest driver of cost is tax. Ordinary workers are being forced to dig deeper and deeper into their pockets to pay for these profits. I understand … coalition of political parties, trade unions, disability organisations and community groups, all demanding that the Government respond to the cost of living crisis. This Bill will have an immediate effect on the cost of oil for the public. It would reduce the cost of a 1,000 litre

partnership, other people may have different views and priorities. We must work within that framework. There is no doubt that the current crisis with regard to the cost of oil and petrol is having a real impact on people’s lives. We need to have an approach similar … safety, electricity and regulation right. We can do more in this regard. With the better energy warmer homes scheme for those on fuel supplement, we can do far more in terms of solar nationally. All that can be done better by working together in Europe

this House have supported the policies of this man. Those policies will result in every household in this country having to endure higher fuel and energy bills this winter, as they have done for the past year. The supposed friend of the small person turned … away from that. The people who hurt most as a result of carbon tax are those least responsible for the cost-of-living crisis and least able to bear the increases that are happening. The Government should tax the profiteers. DCC Energy made €740 million in profits last

blame rests solely with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. There is no denying that the Government has thrown billions of euro at the crisis, but it has only got worse. Here is where people's money is actually going. Forty-three property-based tax measures have been launched … clean energy. The Government has thrown in the towel on carbon tax. We all know the current spikes in the cost of fuel are hitting people hard and a temporary pause can be justified, but taking it off the table for the lifetime of this Government

Deputies that in their engagement through social media channels and otherwise they encourage people who wish to leave to contact the consular crisis number in Dublin if they have not already done so. This team has been set up specifically set up with the only objective of engaging … very clear commitment that we will respond where necessary and we will make it absolutely clear that there should be no changes to fuel prices at our pumps today. There should be absolutely no impact based on what is happening today. The longer this goes on the more

girls from Finglas - our neighbours. They are very welcome. Tá fáilte rompu go léir. We are already witnessing a surge in fuel prices in reaction to the US-Israeli onslaught in the Middle East. People across the country are reporting massive hikes in the cost of home heating … pumps. People are reporting increases as high as ten cent a litre since this onslaught began. Companies are clearly taking advantage of this crisis to squeeze even more profit from their customers. The Taoiseach is entirely passive on the matter. Yesterday, he said there was no excuse

welcome that there is a change in that. However, again, it is not this year; it is going back looking at what fuel they used last year and taking five months off that. A whole complicated process has been put in place, which is regrettable … something the Minister will raise with the Minister for justice because it is a real problem for people apart from the other crisis that we have regarding costs

social contract between the State and its citizens. Successive Governments have paid lip service to this situation by calling it a priority, a crisis and even an emergency while failing to take any housing emergency action. To deal with this housing emergency, the Government must enact a housing … limits for housing applicants for local authorities must be increased by at least €10,000. To address the country's dependence on fossil fuels, the retrofitting of council houses must be hugely increased. The illegal US-Israeli war on Iran shows how important this is. Tipperary County Council

groceries. A total of 63% of those surveyed indicated that this is how they have been dealing with the cost-of-living crisis. That is bad for families and bad for society. Families are also cutting back on footwear and clothing. We also know people are getting themselves … Most of us practising politicians will understand why that is the case. We know we are still far too reliant on expensive fossil fuels to generate the electricity we need. We know we are far too slow to reach our targets in respect of what former Taoiseach

budget of €9.4 billion that still managed to leave people worse off. In that budget, the Government claimed that the cost-of-living crisis had passed and it turned its back on reality. It was a budget that looked after developers, corporate landlords and the banks, but left … Government clearly that its half measures would not cut it. Remember, we also provided it with an alternative that would have made fuel affordable and would have supported people, but the Government walked away. It sent the Dáil home for 20 days while people struggled. That

when the carbon tax comes in the next month, that will be taken away and we will be faced with the same crisis again, and the Government has offered them no solution. That to them equals no hope and people are in despair and overwhelmed by their circumstances … devastating for my constituents to be left in these situations. A mother phoned me today saying that she put €5 worth of fuel in her car to allow her to do three journeys to take her children to school six miles away. That will allow

before. Sadly, the scale of new builds remains inadequate to meet the demands. The housing waiting list continues to grow and the affordability crisis continues to worsen, especially for low- and middle-income families. Rising rents and house prices continue to push working-class families further away from … renewable energy and public transport in order to reduce the financial burden on families. Sinn Féin supports a just transition. Rising electricity and fuel prices are due in no small part to the Government's obsessive drive towards higher carbon taxes. Families will continue to struggle with transportation

stories on the front pages of the newspapers this morning were not about ordinary people dealing with the cost-of-living crisis. No, there are no front pages given to the pensioner at home struggling to keep their home warm, the disabled person taking the now hours-long … strong progress on domestic renewable energy. There are no plans that reverse poverty, only plans that deepen it. Of the €750 million fuel packages announced in the last four weeks by this Government, less than 10% was targeted at the most vulnerable, with a €150 extension

loss of benefits is another huge barrier to employment. Those losses could include the loss of a medical card, the loss of the fuel allowance, the complete loss of or a reduction in a person's disability payment or the loss of the free travel card. In other … Five hundred of these people live with parents who are over 80 years of age. Of course, the cost-of-living crisis has severely impacted people with disabilities. It is literally a case of heating or eating or charging an electric wheelchair or eating. The cost of home

agree on that. This is what has been the biggest driver in the increase in the cost of energy since the crisis began. As a consequence of and in reply to that, the Government did take corrective actions, not once but twice. This was to the tune … done to ensure that the revenue generated by the carbon tax is reinvested to protect those who need the greater support through the fuel allowance, social welfare payments, investment in environmental and agricultural schemes in the agriculture sector, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, grants to help people

sense in this community and across Ireland that the ordinary working people are being pushed to their limits, not just by one single crisis, but by continuous pressure every single day and every single week. Nowhere is that pressure more visible than it is in commuter towns … family trying to stretch every euro at the end of every week. Taxi drivers themselves are under enormous strain as a result of fuel costs. Insurance is crippling them. Vehicle costs are increasing. There are also increasing licensing costs and regulations yet many are earning less in real

Trump and Israel's insane folly in Iran. We can but hope that we are near the endgame of that and that fuel prices in the world's economy can get to a point where we can all catch a breath. That, I think, is the one thing … last Easter's fraught events. The silent discontent in households across the country is real because the impact of this cost-of-living crisis is very real. It is affecting people day in, day out, the choices they make and the limited resources they have. All this

playing whack-a-mole. It has no clear vision for how to support working families through this deepening cost-of-living and energy crisis. Would it not be more honest to call the response what it is, which is a mini-budget but released in segments? Call … have proposed, such as a windfall tax on excess energy profits of big companies; a renewables revolution to end reliance on fossil fuels; targeted energy credits for working households; and indexation of tax bands? This would be systemic change, not just token measures. Why will the Taoiseach

help. There is a view that we need to ensure the farm support scheme that was in place is extended because the crisis certainly has not abated. I met hauliers recently as well as the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA and the Irish Creamery Milk Supplier Association, ICMSA … services and we can drive down the cost of childcare, that is a way of helping. If people are at particular risk of fuel poverty - almost 500,000 homes receive support - and we can do more to help them, that is a way of helping. For older people

Ukraine, and there was a shortage of some supplies coming across continental Europe. We were trying to transition away from fossil fuels. As others have said in respect of our pathway to renewables, we are getting there but there is a long way to go. I appreciate that … back. People find it hard this year to see the rising costs on their bills. During the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis that followed, the previous Government was very agile. That was a term used often in the House. We were able to respond

rate of carbon tax for petrol and diesel will increase from €63.50 to €7 per tonne. This increase will apply to all other fuels from 1 May 2026. Regarding the carbon tax total allocation, in 2025, €951 million was allocated from carbon tax revenues, an increase … been going on for too long and is putting significant pressure on our health and education systems. Our housing is in deep crisis and it is being made much worse because supply is exceeding demand. We have to take on the whole issue of illegal immigration and make

brought in measures this week that benefit everybody in terms of the cost of fuel at the pump. That was the important and right thing to do. What the Deputy is highlighting in this House today concerns renters. I say this respectfully; I hear other people highlighting different … country will benefit from the €250 million intervention and the Government will remain nimble, agile and willing to act further should this economic crisis globally deepen in the time ahead

public transport, energy infrastructure and supports to make that possible. Rural Ireland is being left behind and people see it in rising fuel costs, soaring home energy bills and few or no public transport services. They see communities being forgotten, while Ministers in Dublin tell them that everything … necessity and that struggling families deserve support and not lectures. It can send a message that, when people are facing a crisis, the Government will say it has their back. For these reasons, I support the motion and encourage others

political decision taken elsewhere, yet successive Governments unfortunately waited for a crisis to emerge before taking action. There is a crisis and the Government needs to act. It needs to continuously support these sectors. They are people who create much-needed employment, particularly in rural counties. The warning … being taxed out of existence? When they warned that toll avoidance would push HGVs onto unsuitable secondary roads, wasting millions of litres of fuel, they were ignored - another fine example of practical and constructive solutions put forward all the time but no one listening or taking action. There