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turned its back on the people and people in rural Ireland certainly know that. Since January, the cost 1,000 litres of home heating oil has soared by over €700 but the Government has given back a measly €43. Nobody can afford to fill their tank … households already at breaking point and totally wiped out by further price increases since budget day. In rural counties like Mayo, home heating oil is not a luxury. Families have no alternative. People cannot simply switch to another source of heat this winter. Instead of backing Sinn Féin

people in arrears with electricity. A quarter of people who get gas are in arrears. There are people who use home heating oil who cannot pay their bills. Some people have to use their savings and some have to borrow from the credit union or family but some … have to go cold because they do not have the money to put home heating oil in the tank. I know some of those people. The Minister of State might come in and say, "We are great boys

petrol but it is fair to say that it has not done anything yet to help families with the cost of home heating oil. In this budget there needs to be a serious measure put in place to support the families that I represent in Galway … fill a tank. Consideration needs to be given to backdating any payment or any support that goes in place for home heating oil because families cannot decide when the tank becomes empty and they have to fill

cover. It will not help the more than 1 million homes, families, individuals and others who rely on a tank of home heating oil, specifically lower-income and rural households. What am I to tell a pensioner living on the side of the hill in the likes … Carrignavar or Mourneabbey who will not be helped by this Government because they have to rely on home heating oil? Along with this, there is €5 extra for fuel allowance. Five bloody euro. What an absolute farce. I looked it up this morning. A packet of firelogs

work or a small business trying to keep its doors open. In Kerry, many households are particularly exposed to the cost of home heating oil. For those families, filling an oil tank can mean a significant one-off expense. It is very different from receiving a monthly electricity … measures are introduced are targeted towards the people who are experiencing the greatest pressure, including people in Kerry who are dependent on home heating oil. I will certainly be looking at what the forthcoming budget does to address these pressures. We should continue to invest in retrofitting

extra infliction on people at a difficult time. The one little bit of comfort that people have in their own homes is home heating oil. That never really reduced in price. People have been telling me that up until last weekend the heating was still on in their … State knows the weather we have. There are cold, bitter evenings and a lot of people have to turn on the home heating oil. My God, did they get any break? They got no break. These are hard-working people or maybe retired people who have given

reality facing people on the ground, particularly in rural Ireland where families have no alternative but to rely on private transport and home heating oil, is stretching beyond all recognition. Heating is not a luxury for people; it is a necessity to prevent them getting sick and keep … need real action, not more words. The Government has totally failed. Yesterday, Sinn Féin brought forward legislation to remove carbon tax from home heating oil. It was the eighth time we had sought action on this issue and the eighth time the Government parties or Fianna Fáil, Fine

were for price controls. That is what they asked for. In fact, price controls they asked for on petrol, diesel, home heating oil and green diesel were almost exactly what we put in a Bill we brought into this House two years ago and that we brought … again a number of weeks ago almost word for word. They would actually bring down the cost of fuel, green diesel and home heating oil to levels that are affordable and where there would be certainty because all of the measly concessions the Government has given, which

good enough. There is not even tokenism for those without a clue how they will pay for home heating oil. There is nothing at all. With all the credibility of snake oil salesmen, the Government continues to tell farmers and rural people that they benefit from the carbon … report has found to be completely baseless. Sinn Féin's proposals would have delivered a €183 reduction on 1,000 litres of home heating oil; the Government's proposals do not. Sinn Féin has advocated a 25 cent reduction on the tax the Government raises from petrol

welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. We need to look at sectors that have been left behind. On home heating oil, I know there were a good few proposals in relation to hydrotreated vegetable oil, HVO. The statistics I am hearing are that HVO would … taxes on it. That needs to be looked at. There is nothing there for people right around the country who are using home heating oil. The other side, which was brought up earlier, relates to plant hire. The first thing that goes into every house is a digger

break, people heard Simon Harris tell them that help was on the way. What help actually came for people relying on home heating oil? We got a €43 reduction that does not even match the increase that we have seen since the budget announcement itself. The Minister tried … point to people in my constituency and, to his shame, in his constituency who have no option but to use home heating oil to keep their house warm and heat their water. They have no other option and yet the Government has sat by and watched their costs

worse off. The Government must now introduce a windfall profits tax on energy companies and price caps on petrol, diesel, home heating oil, electricity and gas to support families with the cost of energy. We already have the highest retail electricity prices in Europe at €480 a year … eight companies have told us they will further increase prices in the coming period. The cost of 1,000 litres of home heating oil is now €1,600, which is up €600 on last year, and 500,000 households are in arrears on their electricity and gas bills

said: My own situation is becoming unbearable. Despite being in a dual-income household, I haven't been able to afford home heating oil for three weeks - three weeks without heat, not because I have been irresponsible but because I simply cannot afford it anymore. At the same … people and respond. What was the Government's response this week? It would not cut a single cent of carbon tax from home heating oil. She is in a house that she could not heat for three weeks. She works full-time and her partner does the same

just an issue for his Department, and requires a whole-of-government response. During the winter period, demand for and usage of home heating oil will increase in Galway and Mayo. We will have colder nights and people will stay in for longer. I certainly hope that there … place to engage with the Minister for Finance and other Ministers to ensure there will be a response should there be another home heating oil price shock. I acknowledge the medium and longer term view in relation to retrofitting, insulation and alternative sources, but we also have

that will have an effect for people and will reduce the tax rate that people have to pay on their fuel and home heating oil, all of a sudden the Government has managed to find the road to Damascus. The Government has turned and is going … road a couple of weeks ago when people the length and breadth of the country were realising that the price of their home heating oil was going through the roof

whatever action we take. I think all who have spoken in this debate have mentioned that we know someone who cannot buy home heating oil. We know people who have cut back on their grocery bills. They cannot afford some of the prices being charged in supermarkets … that whole sector and walked away from it. The cost of fuel at the pumps needs to be addressed. The cost of home heating oil has to be addressed. The USC and tax bands need to be addressed. The USC was supposed to be temporary. I remember

what we could do with the other €3 billion? We have also costed that. We could put price controls on petrol, diesel, home heating oil, electricity and gas to bring them back to the levels they were at before the inflation crisis started. Therefore … single public sector worker who was on strike last week a 10% pay increase. We could put price controls on electricity, gas, home heating oil, petrol and diesel to address the energy price hikes that are crippling people to the extent that 500,000 people in this country

from the effects of those conflicts. This is the eighth time Sinn Féin has brought forward legislation to reduce the cost of home heating oil. At every opportunity, the Government has voted against it. I hope, for the sake of the people I represent in Fingal East, that … communities. Voices demand action. People's voices are growing louder and people are growing more impatient with Government inaction. The cost of home heating oil has soared by as much as 75% in the past year. Last Saturday, people took to the streets of Dublin to demand

supermarket. We have seen diesel and petrol hitting €2 per litre, crippling commuters, hauliers and anyone who depends on a car. Home heating oil costs between €1,200 and €1,500 for a standard fill, which is a bill many simply cannot afford. Some householders have seen their … know who feels it most. It is every person who has to drive. It is every householder depending on home heating oil. It is the farmer, the fisherman, the small tourism operator and the builder trying to stay afloat. It is the hard-working men and women

record-breaking, absolutely back-breaking energy bills for homes, and the Government has not reintroduced energy credits. The other one was about home heating oil. The Government did nothing on this last year and this year it is talking about €47, while people have seen increases of about … made has been completely swallowed up and then some, by the €150 increase. People feel short-changed. Many people who rely on home heating oil are among the most vulnerable and are on low incomes, with very few alternatives. The Government has delivered them very little relief

carbon taxes. The idea that this winter there will be elderly people - pensioners - who will have no alternative but home heating oil to put into their house, and the Government is going to inflict a carbon tax on them at this moment in time, is absolutely wrong … fuel has already reached a price on the international markets so that anybody who could get out of diesel, petrol or home heating oil would be out as fast as they could only they do not have an alternative. We do not need carbon tax to nudge

conduct the analysis on a county-by-county basis, particularly focusing on counties with a large proportion of their population dependent on home heating oil. The report should also explore alternative measures that could be applied to absorb price shocks.”.”. We want to amend section … conduct the analysis on a county-by-county basis, particularly focusing on counties with a large proportion of their population dependent on home heating oil. The report should also explore alternative measures that could be applied to absorb price shocks. Earlier today, the Minister mentioned the national energy

glad to have the opportunity to speak in this debate. When we talk about the cost of home heating oil, we are talking about a fundamental issue of security and comfortable in people's lives. I see this anxiety first-hand when I go around County Clare each … response represent a massive €1.7 billion package designed to do exactly that. We have intervened directly on the carbon tax trajectory for home heating oil by pausing the tax and locking it at 2025 rates. We have delivered a direct saving of roughly

Government threatened the use of the people's own army against them to show just how out of touch it was. Home heating oil is at a 30-year high. Families are dreading their oil tanks running dry because they cannot even afford a partial fill. Petrol … could give a decent cut to fuel costs, such as 25 cent off petrol and diesel, it could scrap excise on home heating oil and it could deliver real relief, but it will not. Instead, it sits on a massive surplus while our people are struggling

issue in urban Ireland. What are we going to do about that? We all want to provide people who are reliant on home heating oil with some breathing space this autumn and winter. This is going to be an extremely difficult winter. The question … more than surprised if it does not. The second is that it will do something on carbon tax in terms of home heating oil in the budget. Can we stop the shadow boxing going on at the moment and get real about this? We need to stop pretending