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represent and the people of Ireland are outraged to think farmers are only going to get 2 cent off a litre of green diesel and fishermen are the same. What does Government think they are, slaves to the people of this country? Does it have any respect

have serious concerns going forward if there is not more immediate action done there. The Government forgot about the people who have the green diesel, namely, the farmer and the fisherman. It is a drop of only 3 cent on their fuel. Had the Government any thought

time. We have farmers coming into this time of year when they are filing their tanks with fuel, with their green diesel, and that has all gone up. They have to spread fertiliser. That has to come through the Strait of Hormuz as well and that will

schoolchildren, or the people with lorries or trucks on the road going hard every day delivering services and whatever. Farmers with tractors using green diesel are being hit doubly because it has gone from €1.12 up to €1.68 or €1.70, as has home heating oil. It is very

should allow them to build their own solar panels, their own on-site energy, but not allow them to use greenwashing tactics for diesel generators and have it off-grid. That really needs to be done particularly well. There are brilliant people in all the universities of engineering … Irish people, following the programme for Government, and make sure we force multinationals to ensure they create green on-site energy and not allow them to use diesel generators? We have so much potential in this country. As I have already mentioned, for the future generations of Ireland

Ireland are still far too dependent on fossil fuels - petrol and diesel - because the programme for Government slashed expenditure on sustainable transport in favour of "roads, baby, roads"? The Tánaiste spoke of a green transition but we do not see the evidence for it in the decisions taken … struggling families. We know low-income households spend a larger proportion of their income on energy, home heating oil, petrol and diesel, but this cut in excise will only be the same for them as for everyone else. Already, more than 500,000 households are in arrears

litre and that threshold reflects the point at which many operators simply cannot cope. However, hauliers are not just dealing with diesel. This is a point I have raised with the Minister and I know he is sympathetic to this. Many operators want to use hydrotreated vegetable … there is no reward for the greening of either his company or his operating costs. Hauliers wants to invest in greener fleets and be part of the climate solution, but HVO is more expensive and, unlike diesel, there is no rebate mechanism to offset the cost. We really

phrase, come on you boys in green. This week we brought in one of the largest interventions of any EU member state, based on population, to help people in the here and now, at the petrol pump, with the price of diesel, to help our hauliers, our coach

Middle-income families already under huge financial pressure cannot raise the funds to cover the grant shortfall. This is called the green divide. Is it not contradictory that although we have a carbon tax, we continue to increase the cost of public transport, thereby forcing people back into … come, as we were told at a recent Oireachtas meeting by the deputy chief executive of the National Transport Authority. Petrol and diesel are essential rather than discretionary for hundreds of thousands of people, especially in rural Ireland where access to public transport is either very limited

well-off households with significant savings. We in the Labour Party want to see a street-by-street retrofitting scheme backed by green loans. People want to switch to public transport but the services are not there or are already at capacity. We need more rail services … lanes put in? In the absence of public transport, people feel they cannot make the switch from petrol or diesel to EVs because our charging infrastructure is so lacking. Farmers are getting mixed messages and, meanwhile, there are insufficient compensation schemes to enable the necessary changes

centres in Ireland will lead to increased household energy prices. It leaves out that it has done that already, including under the previous Green Party coalition, and it does nothing to fix it. Our amendments are about banning the building of any more data centres, taxing existing data … expansion of bus and rail services. It makes no sense that during a fuel crisis, the Government is cutting taxes on petrol and diesel, which we welcome, but doing nothing to incentivise people to use public transport. Fares are being abolished in Australia in response to the current

Amendment No. 1 proposes from 1 July until 14 October 2026 a further reduction in mineral oil tax rates and petrol and auto diesel and to reduce the mineral oil tax rates applicable to kerosene used other than as a propellant, as well as further deviations from … million for retrofitting programmes and just transition,€350 million for targeted social welfare interventions such as the fuel allowance and €173 million for green and sustainable farming measures. Pausing the carbon tax trajectory current rates would decrease the funding available for these just transition and climate measures, which

House as soon as it is put into my hands. I do welcome, after many false dawns, that Shannon LNG will get the green light to move ahead. That will mean a lot for Kerry, especially the northern part of the county. It will also mean … doing about it. The cost of energy is the cause of all the trouble. People on the roads are buying petrol and diesel. People at home are buying home heating oil and gas to keep themselves warm. People are entitled - this generation is as entitled

foreign fuel. It is complete neglect by government. Beyond Barryroe, Ireland still has no clear, credible path to energy independence. Imagine after a Green Party in Government, solar systems cost up to €20,000 to run a home only gets a measly €1,800 grant. This … defenceless. Today’s announcements help those on fuel allowance. That must be welcomed but the squeezed middle gets 20 cent a litre off diesel, which is the same amount as it went up last week. There is 2 cent a litre for the farmer and fisherman, which leaves

helped to some degree, but they are temporary, limited in scope and often underutilised. For example, only 45% of eligible operators claimed the diesel rebate last year. We have to ask why. It is because this process is complex and small operators simply do not have the administrative … SMEs and haulage, not just during crises but as part of an ongoing policy. These businesses need predictability, not uncertainty. Investment in green and fuel-efficient technologies can reduce costs and help us meet our climate targets. Let us make sustainability a cost-saving measure, not a burden

ghost from the Green Party that existed in the previous Government. The Minister of State will remember well what happened to the Green Party. It was eviscerated in the most recent election because it refused to listen to the people in relation to carbon tax. The Government said … County Meath for the last 15 years. Most people in Meath would give their right arm not to have to drive petrol or diesel cars to Dublin on a daily basis but instead get into a train to do so. The fact of the matter is that most

prices. Are their lives today any different from their lives yesterday because of this budget? Is the price of petrol, diesel or agricultural diesel lower? Is the price of electricity lower today than it was yesterday? It is not. Incredibly, the Government has completely ignored the biggest burning … democratically, morally and constitutionally responsible for representing? Is it the EU? Does he represent the NGOs? Is he representing the ghost of the Green Party, which still seems to haunt Government policy on these issues two years after it was decimated? The Minister of State is democratically, legally

only way to get to work - is pushing him into debt. Our apprentices earn around €300 per week. Between insurance, the cost of diesel and petrol and now these planned toll hikes, it is suffocating. It is death by 1,000 cuts. This week, I heard … with measly crumbs. As always, it is one story for Dublin with another story for rural Ireland. Every year, this Government gives a green light to suck every last cent from those just trying to work and live in rural Ireland. It is just not good enough. They

RTÉ yesterday. That is part of the game. This is a very serious issue. I am very critical of the Green Party because it spent four or five years in government and did not move us properly towards renewables and we are now left in a crisis situation … heating oil. I ask the Government to seriously consider something for these people. The Government has spent years piling tax on to diesel, and telling us we have to meet our climate targets and that is climate action while doing very little to reduce harmful emissions. People

timescale of what the Government is doing. Ultimately, as others have referred to, the companies have pushed the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene up at a rate never seen before. I can only see it as price gouging. The companies will argue differently. We have to look … even quadruple our efforts on energy self-sufficiency and ramping up renewables, not only wind, but also wave, tidal, solar and producing green hydrogen. We have to treat it like a war-time situation. If this eases off, something else will come down the road

last two weeks. That will cripple many haulage companies and motorists. I propose that the Government look at putting a cap on diesel prices for the transport sector, which is a crucial cog in the wheel of our economy. We must support and protect jobs. As I said … targeted supports or relief measures to help operators transition to more sustainable fleets without financial penalty. Thank God the fairy tale party, the Green Party, is no longer here because what it was doing to the sector was outrageous. If it wants it to become greener, then

burning, transport emissions and industrial activity are major contributors of harmful pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and fine particulates. Vehicle emissions, in particular from diesel cars, vans and heavy duty vehicles, are well known as a source of urban air pollution. Localised hotspots in urban areas need … also a no-brainer in terms of rising fuel costs if we can get homegrown renewable energy stored properly and converted to green hydrogen in some cases. I welcome the Bill. It is just one Bill but important legislation. Complementary legislation is essential to protect public health

prices keep rising, excise and VAT reductions are not enough. Even after the reductions, we are already back over €2 per litre of diesel, which is the level that prompted the fuel protests. Yesterday, we heard wholesale electricity prices are up 77%. We need price caps to give … panels provided directly by the State. Instead of public transport fares going up, they should be going down and we should have free, green and frequent public transport

people in energy arrears before the war even started. The Government was taking 60% to 65% of the cost of petrol and diesel out of people’s pockets before the war even started. The Government has been robbing the people of this country in terms of fuel prices … road of purposely over-taxing these staples. One of the reasons it is doing so is because it is still imbued with the Green Party agenda of using a stick to get people out of private transport. It is as if the Greens have never left the Government

growing public anger, the Government introduced limited temporary measures. They were welcomed by the people but now when we see the price of diesel again at €2.20, and even €2.30 in places, they are like snow off a ditch. They are gone and there is no impact … vans are a necessity, not a luxury. They have to have them. The Taoiseach’s obsession, when he was in government with the Green Party, with the carbon tax and everything else has to be rethought, re-examined and totally stopped for the present time to have further