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Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will consider the maximum removal of mineral oil tax on home heating oil given the substantial price increases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26927/26

Government’s attitude to energy is Dublin centric. The fact the Government was not willing to give a real relief on kerosene - home heating oil - which is the basis of home heating in most of regional and rural Ireland, shows the disconnect of Ministers in this Government. They

there at the moment and no one should take advantage of that uncertainty to increase prices of energy or oil, be it home heating oil or on the forecourts. We are keeping everything under review in terms of the price situation and the impact on households

break and supports, they are given crumbs like a handful of cent off the price of green diesel and home heating oil. Average prices for a home continue to run away from the reach of ordinary people. I am proud to have spent so much time with those … with the protesters, but they could not because they were at home trying to stay warm, in their beds for longer than they needed to because they could not afford heating oil. It is as simple as that. I met workers in their 20s and 30s who felt

fishermen will rightly make the same claim, and we will have to look at that in due course. With regard to home heating oil, again, because it does not carry the same taxation model, it is not possible to adjust it in the way that was done … time of year, May, when we would hope the weather has improved, and there is not the same dependence on oil or gas to heat the home. We have tried to bring a proportionate response. We are trying to be responsible with taxpayers' money. When anybody is looking

have huge arrears in the context of their electricity bills. What has the Government introduced today to deal with that? What about home heating oil? How will people heat their homes? What about mortgage arrears, rent arrears

reality for too many people in rural Ireland. We absolutely feel it. There are over 700,000 people who are reliant on home heating oil. They feel completely left behind because they cannot heat their homes. That is why I support this motion. Regarding the energy credit

link that to price caps. We have a Bill to do precisely that, introducing a €1 per litre price cap on home heating oil as well as caps on petrol, diesel and home energy, and linking that to the idea of renationalising our energy system. We used

taxes on petrol and diesel. It put up the tax on the family home. It is planning to increase taxes on home heating oil. Insurance premiums are up. Car insurance is up. Home insurance is up. Health insurance is up. Public liability insurance is up. The Government

living crisis. We moved it on 6 October 2021. It referred to the need for price controls on electricity, fuel, petrol and home heating oil. It also referred to the need to boost the retrofitting of homes so that people could bring down their bills. It mentioned … People are speculating on oil and all of that kind of thing and they are all making profits at the expense of ordinary people who are suffering cost-of-living misery and who are unable to turn on the heating. Some 700,000 people in this country

fuels. To defer the carbon tax at this point would fundamentally undermine this goal. Some 26% of Irish households are dependent on home heating oil, and the price of kerosene has risen by 59% in the past year. That is not driven by the carbon … fund would also be deployed to support extra long-term measures to increase the retrofit of homes, increase the installation of low-cost solar panels, and see more replacement of oil heating systems with renewable systems. Those are the sort of long-term measures that, to date, have

sixth day and the price of oil and gas is continuing to skyrocket. People are now being charged absolutely extortionate prices for home heating oil. The Tánaiste saying he is going to monitor the situation and keep it under review is of absolutely no use to people facing … pensions supposed to pay these extortionate costs? This includes vulnerable people and those with medical conditions. They need to be able to heat their homes. They will be going cold either because they are rationing their heating or they simply cannot afford to fill their tanks. Families with

might just get a notion of doing something in the budget. That is not good enough. For seven months, the price of home heating oil has been in crisis. I remember banging on doors in the run-up to the last general election when it was -4 degrees … responsible government would tell a family who is sitting in a cold home tonight that it might help, hinting that there will be something in the budget when that family needs heat and needs oil today. Tonight, the Government has a very simple choice. It can tell those

Government say, gets up early in the morning to go to work. He cannot even afford to fill his tank with oil because of the carbon tax. If that carbon tax was removed, as Pearse Doherty suggested, he could have filled his tank. That would have made … that. Pearse Doherty is trying to deliver help. We cannot sort everything out but for those 750,000 people who rely on home heating oil and who are looking for support, this would make a real difference to their lives. I think of pensioners in their homes

Working people, families, and elderly and disabled people cannot afford to heat homes and gas up their vehicles while the Government grants data centres lower energy costs at a time of record profits for big oil and gas corporations. Trump's illegal war on Iran has exacerbated higher … help everyday people, including Sinn Féin's legislation a month ago to reduce the cost of petrol, diesel, including green diesel, and home heating oil. Now, when finally faced with the ire of the people and with the electorate awoken to its lack of governance, it brings forward

struggling to heat their homes, the ones who stay in bed until a bit later to save on gas or home heating oil? Just an hour ago I heard from family carers telling me the cost of energy for them at home has tripled and the Government

marked gas oil, MGO, from an excise point of view. It also meant the deferral of the May carbon tax increase on home heating oil fuels and MGO, as well as a reduction in the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, levy. We have also had the diesel rebate

give €150 back this year. Parents and students see through the Tánaiste's bogus budget strokes. The carbon tax reduction on home heating oil is sufficient only to address the price increases of the past week, and the Government failed to support people heating their homes across

very difficult. Across all of the country, but especially in rural Ireland, people are crippled by the price of petrol, diesel and home heating oil. Families, workers, small businesses and the independent forecourts that keep our communities going are all being pushed to the brink. The facts … duvets and blankets. That is very unfair. It is still cold and nasty weather out there for an elderly person. A bit of heat is worth the world. I get phone calls every day of the week; my phone is on fire. I am told that the office

Some 750,000 people are dependent on home heating oil. Many hundreds of thousands of families are already in significant energy arrears with bills. People are going cold and rationing heat and electricity in their own homes because of the wider cost-of-living crisis that existed before

suspension. That makes it 22 cent in total on diesel, 17 cent in total on petrol and another 2 cent reduction on home heating oil. As I have said and others have said, it is simply not enough in the current crisis. I know it is a geopolitical … effective climate measure is a just transition by making sure that we have alternatives to importing fossil fuels and that people can heat their homes from home-grown production, be it from green hydrogen from excess electricity production, better insulated housing or public transport powered by hydrogen, electricity

Look at all the things it refuses, as such. There are other areas that have been forgotten about. People cannot fill their home-heating oil tanks this evening. The Government might say they can go to their local social welfare offices but many people fall between the cracks … Dublin and said the same thing. It was unfair to say that I blocked something but we all say things in the heat of the moment, and I accept that. In the past week, there was a lot of what they call "gaslighting", or whatever, and enflaming

have also decided to reduce the rate of carbon tax on kerosene and natural gas for the lifetime of this Government. Home heating oil and natural gas is a huge cost for families and this measure, taken with others, will help those who are most hard-pressed during … fact. New and enhanced energy grants opened yesterday, helping households make their homes more energy efficient and reduce energy bills. The new supports include a €2,000 boiler scrappage scheme for eligible fossil fuel heating systems; a €600 home battery grant; up to €9,000 for solar photovoltaic

medical card, free travel, fuel allowance, supplementary welfare payments and a social house. While the carbon tax applied to kerosene home heating oil and natural gas has been reduced to €48.50 and paused at this rate, it should be removed completely as many people are struggling to keep

díriú isteach ar political point scoring seachas ar solutions. I think everyone in this Chamber knows that the current price of oil and fuel is being driven by what is happening across the conflicts of the world, be it Ukraine and Russia or the Middle East … August and I look forward to seeing it brought into Ireland. In relation to the budget and home heating oil, one thing I urge the Government to prioritise - and I have been doing this in my work on the committee and in my emails and parliamentary questions