Pearse Doherty
Donegal · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I move amendment No. 1 to Seanad recommendation No. 2: To delete from the row dated "1 September 2026" down to and including the row dated "1 May 2030" and substitute the following: " 15 July 2026 €502.88 €502.88 €371.85 €371.85 €371.85 €0.00 €210.45 €172.14 €167.25 €79.17 €11.48 14 October 2026 €502.88 €502.88 €371.85 €371.85 €371.85 €0.…”
“Next week, this House will rise, the doors of Leinster House will be locked and Ministers will head off on their summer holidays. Their parting gift to ordinary Irish people across the State will be to have locked in fuel price increases that will hit them in their pockets.”
“That is not acceptable and it is why we in Sinn Féin have tabled this amendment to say that these price increases should not be going ahead and that prices should be properly monitored at the appropriate time.”
“This is tied to the latter amendment and I will speak further at length on that. Recommendation No. 1 deals with the diesel rebate scheme, which operates within a window that closes on 1 October.”
“Hope is what we rely on when we have no control. It is not a substitute for prudent economic planning. There is zero certainty here. There are no guarantees that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open or that global supply lines will not be choked tomorrow morning.”
“As if that were not good enough, the Government is not just hitting people with increases on petrol and diesel. On top of that, it is going to hit them with an increase in the cost of home heating oil, natural gas and a basic bag of coal.”
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“It promised to protect households from fuel price shocks but it is now driving up the prices of petrol and diesel through further carbon tax hikes. It promised it would increase the rent tax credit, yet the budget failed to do so, while landlords received tax breaks and rent pressures continue to spiral out of control. These are not minor oversights; they were clear, repeated promises of the Government and each and every one of them is broken. The Government has done the exact opposite of what it promised. This is the real issue. People are not stupid. They are judging the Government on the promises it made and how consistently they have been broken. At the same time as breaking promises to workers and families, the budget found millions in taxpayers’ money for banks and developers.”
“The Government promised to cut income tax for ordinary workers but instead produced a budget that delivered huge tax breaks for developers and wealthy executives, while PAYE workers were left behind. The Tánaiste promised that energy bills would go down under Fine Gael. People have never paid higher energy bills and the Government withdrew the energy credits they depended on. The Government promised to abolish student fees but instead hiked them by €500 compared with what parents were paying last year. The Government promised that within 100 days it would produce a plan to reduce childcare fees to €200 per month. The 100 days are long gone and there is still no plan and no reduction in childcare fees in the budget the Government introduced.”
“Gheall sé sa toghchan go n-ísleodh sé táillí triú leibhéil do mhic léinn. Bhris sé an gealltanas sin agus chuir sé in airde iad. Níl daoine bómánta; déanfaidh siad breithiúnas ar an Rialtas bunaithe ar na gealltanais atá déanta aige agus ar cé chomh rialta is atá na gealltanais sin briste aige. On the front page of the Irish Daily Mail this morning, the Tánaiste is quoted as having said he will put money back into people’s pockets. He even describes himself as “Sensible Simon” in his new role in the Department of Finance. However, for workers, families, carers and students listening today, that claim collapses when measured against the promises the Government has made and broken. Let us take these promises one by one.”
“I welcome to the Visitors Gallery the group of women, including Patricia Walsh, from Rock Street, Tralee, which I am told is the street of champions. They are very welcome to Teach Laighean inniu. Cuirim fáilte rompu. Ar phríomhleathanach an Irish Daily Mail inniu, tuairiscítear bhfuil sé ráite ag an Tánaiste go gcuirfidh sé airgead ar ais i bpócaí na ndaoine. Gheall an Tánaiste roimhe seo go mbeadh laghdú ar cháin ioncaim do ghnáthoibrithe. Bhris sé an gealltanas sin. Gheall sé go mbeadh laghdú ar chostais fuinnimh, ach tá na costais sin níos airde ná mar a bhí riamh. Tharraing sé siar na creidmheasa fuinnimh a bhí daoine ag brath orthu. Bhris sé an gealltanas sin. Gheall sé go mbeadh plean aige taobh istigh de 100 lá a chinnteodh go mbeadh costaisí cúraim leanaí ar €200 sa mhí. Arís, bhris sé an gealltanas sin.”
“The Government looked at these obscene profits and decided to hand the developers more. It handed them massive tax breaks in this year's budget. Every worker will be worse off next year in order that developers can make more money. Shame on the Government. It wants us to believe that higher rents, higher house prices and bigger profits are going to solve the housing crisis, but that is not the case. While Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael remain in government, the housing crisis is only going to get worse. More and more people become homeless. Young people emigrate. Lives are put on hold. People's hard-earned wages are handed over to landlords and banks. All of that will continue until we take back control and start building homes working people can afford to own.”
“Fianna Fáil joining in has only made matters worse. Today, 180 landlords own 56,000 homes in this State. The Government has ripped up home ownership and ripped it away from a whole generation to drive them into the arms of corporate landlords. In the last five years, these big landlords have doubled the number of properties they own. We have seen them hoovering up homes. They have outbid people at every turn. Workers watch on as house prices are pushed out of reach. The Government is trying to spin a yarn that there is not enough money in housing. It churns out industry nonsense for big developers, the same big developers that are making super-profits. The biggest players have 20% gross profit margins. They are talking such a big cut that it would make the banks and the insurance industry blush.”
“This latest housing plan is not worth the paper it is written on. Like all other failed plans from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, this will only make the housing crisis worse. It will only make people's lives harder. It will lead to more misery for anyone trying to put a roof over their head so that a small few can make bigger profits. Smaller, darker, more expensive homes; that is this Government's plan. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are serving the interests of people who are profiting from the housing crisis. In my own county of Donegal, 80 council houses are lying empty because of defective blocks. There is no plan from the Government. They are just lying empty. It is disgraceful. Fine Gael's record in government is clear. Since it came into office, the number of people under the age of 40 who own their own home has been cut in half.”
“I ask the Taoiseach to give firm assurances that the commitments he made will be progressed without delay and to intervene to make sure the mediator meets with the survivors before Christmas.”
“Miriam Moriarty Owens, Mary Donovan, Mary Dunleavy Greene and Maurice Patton O'Connell endured 50 days on hunger strike to demand action from the Government for the survivors of industrial and reformatory schools. They ended their protest after securing from the Taoiseach specific commitments, including a Government apology and a number of measures to improve the lives and well-being of survivors. However, they have been in contact to raise serious concerns that the appointed mediator will not meet them again until January. They fear that without clear timelines, the commitment outlined in the Taoiseach's letter to them will stall and fall into delay. The risk now is that the protesters feel compelled to resume their hunger strike, potentially in the run-up to Christmas. We all know these folk have endured enough suffering.”
“Over 1 million families are going to see price increases. His officials warned him and he chose to ignore them and abandoned workers. I will ask the Taoiseach again. Why did he cancel the energy credits despite the warnings from his own officials? Why did he ignore the fact that arrears had reached record levels and that families would have to find €321 and pay higher energy prices than ever before during the energy crisis? Why did he choose to ignore all of that and abandon these workers at this time?”
“The Taoiseach's own officials warned him. They said that without Government support, customers will pay more this winter for electricity than at any time during the energy crisis. They said that before price increases, arrears had increased to record levels. We know this and the Taoiseach knew this. It is in black and white in what his officials told him. They make clear and lay out in graphs that families will have to find an extra €321 this winter compared with last winter to pay their energy bills. The Government had all this information, yet still decided to abandon workers and families by withdrawing these energy credits. It did that at a time when the Taoiseach knew and his officials told him energy company after energy company had decided to increase their prices in these months.”
“Does the Taoiseach in any way understand the pressure that ordinary families the length and breadth of this State are under this Christmas? People see no end in sight. They see a Government that is closed off to their hardship. It cannot go on. The Government needs to act to end the rip-off, to get costs under control and to make life affordable. Its inaction does not cut it and its bluff and spin has run out of road. This morning the question I, and I am sure many families, are asking is: why the Government cancelled energy credits despite the analysis from its own officials which showed how badly they were needed this year? Will it finally see sense and reinstate those credits to help people through these winter months?”
“It was a budget of €9.4 billion that left them worse off and did not even include a cost-of-living package. The CSO just reported on Monday that prices continue to rise and are rising faster now than in the past two years. People are under huge pressure in the lead-up to Christmas. They are watching every single euro and they are forced to make really tough choices. I spoke to a mother on Monday. She and her husband are working. She talking to me about her three kids. They sat down to write their Christmas list last week. Even though they were not asking for much, she had to convince each and every one of them to drop something off the list. She had to sit them down and explain to those children that even Santa is feeling the cost-of-living crisis this year.”
“It knew energy bills were going up and up and yet it still cancelled the one bit of help that people really relied on to pay off these rip-off bills. This is scandalous and people are bearing the brunt of this. It is clear by the day that the Government ditched energy credits because the election is over and it feels it can break its promises without any consequences. Working households are paying a heavy price for the Government's cynical choice. It is much colder now. People are finding it harder to light and heat their homes and more than 500,000 households cannot pay their energy bills. The Government's decision to cancel energy credits means that even more families are going to be pushed over that line. The truth is that working people were not a priority in the budget.”
“Documents obtained through freedom of information by Lynn Boylan MEP revealed three damning findings from the internal analysis conducted by the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment ahead of the budget. First, the case for energy credits was stronger this year than last year. The Government knew that annual bills were set to be higher in October 2025 than they were in October 2024. Second, households would have to find an extra €321 to cover their energy bills this winter in the absence of energy credits and, third, an energy scheme for struggling households was shelved and not included in the budget. It is clear from this analysis that energy credits were badly needed this year. The Government had this advice to hand.”
“Tá sé scannalach go bhfuair an Rialtas anailís óna chuid oifigigh féin a léirigh go raibh sochair fuinnimh ag teastáil go géar ach mar sin féin chuir sé deireadh leis sa bhuiséad. Bhí an chomhairle seo ina lámha. Bhí a fhios ag an Rialtas go raibh billí leictreachais ag dul suas agus suas, ach chuir sé deireadh go fóill leis an t-aon phíosa chuidithe a bhí daoine ag brath air. We said the Government's decision to cancel energy credits was a terrible call and that the removal of this vital support would leave working households under huge pressure and leave them struggling to pay their electricity bills in the face of relentless price hikes this winter. This morning, it was revealed that the Government pushed forward with the withdrawal of energy credits despite stark advice from its own officials.”
“He must ensure that rostering does not break Irish and EU law and our staff have proper recognition. I am particularly conscious of many people in my own community, where the Coast Guard works with huge dedication in terms of sea rescue. We need to see a situation like that of the retained firefighters, who have recognition of their association. This means that when people who have given a lifetime of service are dealing with disciplinary issues, they have a trade union to represent them. That is not the situation at the minute. They need to be recognised as an association so they can represent coastal units and Coast Guard members across the State. The Government should ensure this happens without delay.”
“There is no such thing as rest time for them during a shift when they can be airborne within minutes. Therefore, the Government must make sure that this practice ends, that rostering does not break Irish and EU working time rules, and that work hours are recorded properly to protect the crews and the communities they serve. If a crew works 24 hours, 24 hours must be reported, not 16.5 hours or some other artificially discounted figure. That is the law under the EU directive, and it is the basic requirement for an honest system of fatigue management. This motion is about protecting crews, protecting the public, and ensuring that our search and rescue service remains safe and sustainable and is legally compliant. That is why the Minister of State needs to intervene. He must ensure that this practice ends.”
“They are very concerned that it is unsafe to increase the number of 24-hour shifts in this way. This proposal would allow for 21 more 24-hour shifts a year per worker. In County Donegal, we know how hard the Coast Guard and search and rescue crews work to protect us. It is wrong to record their 24-hour shifts as just 16.5 hours. These shifts are served on deployment or on a base where crews must always be ready to go at a moment's notice. It is essentially pretending that hours spent on deployment-ready duty somehow do not count as working time and are somehow rest time. Search and rescue crews must be fully deployable within seconds for lifesaving missions. These are crews that always have to be prepared for high-risk lifesaving missions. We know the reality of what these crews face when the call comes through; they must launch.”
“It is not true to say that this is solely a matter for the Irish Aviation Authority. Government is ultimately responsible for ensuring a functioning Coast Guard and that workers are kept safe as possible. Our motion is needed urgently because the rules being applied to search and rescue crews are not only wrong but unsafe. New IAA approvals would increase the number of allowable 24-hour shifts in a year by 25%. This will reduce the number of hours recorded on a 24-hour shift from 18 to 16.5 under the new factoring calculations. Experienced front-line workers, sometimes at great expense as some are currently facing disciplinary proceedings, have raised the alarm. They are telling us plainly that this increases risk. It is already a dangerous profession, so we need to listen to them.”
“County Donegal is home to one of the busiest yet remote coastlines in the island of Ireland. We have a fishing industry, offshore workers, island communities and thousands of people who rely on Coast Guard SAR crews every year. When a boat gets into trouble off the 1,134 km of our coastline, or when a medical emergency occurs on Tory Island or Árainn Mhór, these crews are the ones that respond. They are the ones who step into the issues in the worst conditions imaginable so that others can come home safely. This motion, with a focus on SAR helicopter services, is really important. I commend my colleague Deputy Cullinane for bringing it forward. The motion is about protecting those who protect us. I am disappointed the Government has tabled an amendment that blatantly shirks responsibility.”
“We need a scheme that deals with the childcare centres our children are in that are falling down. We need a scheme for our community buildings that are falling down in Donegal and elsewhere. The Government needs to get with it because what it is doing is cruel, vindictive, callous, cold-hearted and indifferent. The people have demanded what they have got so far from the Government. They have wrenched every little bit and every little support from the Government. They are going to continue and we in Sinn Féin are going to stand with them shoulder to shoulder until we get 100% redress because they deserve nothing less.”
“The promise the Government made that earlier movers would not be penalised is one it has fairly broken in this legislation because it is penalising early movers. It is breaking its promise and its commitment. Again, this scheme is so deeply flawed that what we need is not tinkering with it but a proper scheme. We need a scheme that delivers 100% redress, one not based on laptop studies but on the proper, up-to-date science that actually deals with the issue going on in people's homes. We need a scheme that not just deals with people's homes but one that deals with the 12 schools in Donegal that have defective blocks-----”
“They have marched in the streets. As Deputy Mac Lochlainn said, they have filled the Gallery here pleading and begging that their elected representatives would hear them, step up and make sure they had equality. That is what they want. They want equality and not something new, different or more than anybody else. They want the same scheme other people in the east of this country were able to get, where their houses were fixed and where 100% redress was provided. The Government has brought forward a small increase in relation to the grants but costs have already overtaken that increase and it has only been applied to works carried out from March 2024. This means people are still going to be left behind.”
“I agree 100% with them because what the Government is doing is cruel. There is no defence anymore in terms of the Government saying it does not know what the issues are. People's houses are crumbling down around them. The Government brought in a scheme it pretended was 100% redress. All it was was pretence, because there would be no issues today if we had a 100% redress scheme. The Government would not be playing around with a 10% increase in allowances and grants and backdating it to a certain date, with cut-off points that are absolutely cruel, heartless, cold, indifferent, detached and everything those families in County Donegal said to me about this Government. It is appalling what is happening. People are stuck in a crisis and in absolute misery not of their own making. They have turned to the Government.”
“As my colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, said, this amendment is long overdue. It is symptomatic of the Government. It has been two years since it was asked to look at the costs and it is a year on from the general election when it said it was going to bring it in. We are taking this legislation now, legislation that was published at 10 o'clock this morning. This shows how much the Government cares about people in my constituency, in Mayo and in other areas that have defective blocks. The type of approach the Government has taken to this legislation is absolutely appalling, as is the length of time it has taken. It is cruel, heartless, brutal, ruthless, cold-hearted, detached and indifferent. These are words that families who live in houses with defective blocks have used to describe to me the approach of this Government.”
“They are calling for the NTA regulations to be updated to capture the impact of dispatch apps on the industry and on income of taxi drivers. The Government needs to get involved now and sort this out. This is a serious issue for taxi drivers right across the State, but it is also a very serious issue for customers who could see higher prices as choice dries up, as we have seen in other jurisdictions where this happened.”
“Later today, thousands of taxi drivers will take part in a slow drive protest against Uber's new maximum pricing feature. Taxi drivers say this move is a blatant attempt to undermine the National Transport Authority, NTA, regulations and that it will be absolutely devastating to their incomes and for the future of the industry. They also tell us, and we know from other places where Uber has introduced this model, that it has resulted in a bad deal for taxi drivers, who end up being forced to pay much higher commission, and also higher prices for customers as choice dries up. Taxi drivers have been left with no option but to take to the roads of the capital to confront what they see as a big threat to their livelihoods.”
“That is the reality of it. Every year, rents are going up and the Government has no plan to fix it. Indeed, it is going to make it worse because it is going to allow landlords to reset the rents right across the board in March next year. It is appalling. That is why young people have decided to abandon this country in search of a different future.”
“The Tánaiste should maybe tell the truth. Fine Gael made a solemn promise to the public that if they got re-elected, they would increase the renter's tax credit. They broke that promise, like so many others, because Simon says-----”
“They are the bare facts, not my facts but those of the RTB, which has told us very clearly that renters have to find €9,000 more for the average rent now since he took office in the Cabinet. In Dublin they have to find €10,000 more. Does the Tánaiste think it is appropriate that new renters have to pay €27,000 a year in rent in Dublin? Our position is very clear - ban rent increases.”
“In his heart of hearts, does the Tánaiste believe that is the case for young people who are listening to him? The couple I was speaking to last week, a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old, are back in the box room of their family homes, back in their childhood bedrooms. They were supposed to build a house, start a family and live here in Ireland but they are heading to Australia. The Tánaiste is trying to deny the reality that is out there. The RTB is very clear. Rents are going up. They have gone up over €1,000 in the last year. New rents and existing rents have gone up. Every year since the Tánaiste has been in the Cabinet, rents have gone up by an average of €1,000.”
“Once again, the Government made clear political choices. It chose landlords and developers over renters. Our position is clear and simple. The Government needs to end the rip-off. It needs to get rents under control and it is needs to make housing affordable. That means cutting rents and freezing any further rent increases for the next three years to give renters breathing space and to stop this relentless upward spiral. Here is the question: is the Government going to finally act by cutting rents and introducing a real and meaningful three-year rent freeze - yes or no - or is it going to continue with Fine Gael's failed approach that has already driven rents through the roof? While the Tánaiste sits at the Cabinet table, rents have gone up, on average, by €1,000 a month to the point that it costs €27,000 for a new tenant in this capital.”
“From March of next year, tens of thousands of renters will see their rent reset to the very top of the market. For some, this will mean a doubling of the rent. How high is the Tánaiste willing to let rents go before he intervenes? Is it €3,000 a month? Is it €4,000 or maybe €5,000? What is his cut-off point? Young people cannot take this pressure any longer. The Government is pricing them out of homes, out of family life and out of their futures. What did renters get in this year's budget? They did not get the promise the Tánaiste made to them that the Government would increase the renter's tax credit. They did not get that but landlords are going to get an increase. They will get €1,000 tax break next year. Workers get no tax cut at all but developers get €250 million of a tax break for apartments that are already under construction.”
“In some counties, the increases have been truly shocking. In Leitrim rents are up 16%, in Carlow they are up 15% and in Longford the are up 14%. The average new rent in this State is now €20,000 a year. In Dublin, the picture is even more brutal. The average new rent in Dublin stands at €27,000 a year. This is not an accident. This is the direct result of Fine Gael's approach to housing and to renters, letting the market run wild, protecting profits and abandoning ordinary people. Average rents were less than €1,000 when the Tánaiste became a Minister and took up his position in Cabinet. Now, they are nearly double that. That means that people are now having to pay over €9,000 more a year in rent than when he took office, and almost €10,000 more a year in Dublin for new rents. The Government is going to make matters worse.”
“However, they could not take the rent increases any more and they knew more were coming. Last week, they were left with no other option but to move back into his parent's homes, back into his childhood bedroom. Now their plan has changed. Their plan now is to save money, book flights and head to Australia. This couple are 26 and 27 years of age. This is what non-stop rip-off rents have done to their future and it is a direct result of Government policies over decades that have driven this rent crisis to boiling point. This crisis has now resulted in 5,400 eviction notices being issued in the last quarter alone. The Government's policies are not getting young people out of boxrooms; it is putting them back into them. In the past year alone, both new and existing rents have risen by 5% across the State.”
“I welcome Commissioner McGrath back to the House. I also welcome the women's Shankill group who are here with us in Leinster House. They are very welcome here today. Dearbhaíonn figiúirí ón mBord um Thionóntachtaí Cónaithe inniu an rud atá ar eolas ag tionóntaí cheana féin. Is é sin go bhfuil cíosanna as smacht agus iad ar siúl suas 5% arís le bliain anuas. Is polasaithe an Rialtais atá freagrach as seo. Today's Residential Tenancies Board figures confirm what renters already know and that is that rents are out of control and it is the Government's policies that are responsible. This is not something abstract. I spoke to a couple last week who are renting. They both have good jobs. The plan was simple. They were going to save hard, buy their own home and one day start a family here in Ireland.”
“-----there is a motion before us, so can I just address it? The Government Chief Whip cannot say the normal sitting of the Dáil will not happen on Tuesday without any explanation as to why this will happen. Does this mean Leaders' Questions will not happen on Tuesday again? The Taoiseach was not here this Tuesday. He seems to be evading accountability all the time. What is the rationale behind it?”
“As the Minister knows, the family is not looking for special treatment but what they do deserve are answers and justice for Michael. I welcome the fact that the Minister has raised this and I am asking her to continue to raise it. There are far too many cases where families have campaigned for decades, in this case for half a century, for the truth and justice. I am asking the Government to support them in their quest.”
“As the Minister is aware, the legacy Act that came into existence in Britain on 1 May 2023 shut down an inquest into Michael's killing, incredibly, just hours after it was granted by the Attorney General. The case was an example of the cruelty of Britain's legacy Act writ large. As well the new evidence, the Attorney General granted the inquiry on the basis that the original inquest did not receive oral evidence from any of the RUC officers involved in the killing. Given the circumstances that this new evidence came too late before the cruel legacy Act was enacted, it is vital that the inquest into Michael's death be reopened. It is important that whatever happens in relation to the negotiations and phases of the framework for dealing with these matters, the inquiry into the killing of Michael Leonard be reopened.”
“At that time in 2023, the Leonard family came here to Leinster House to ask for help from the Government. They deserve to finally have answers to their questions. I welcome that the Minister says she has raised the case with Hilary Benn. What are the next steps she will take on behalf of the Government in respect of the case of Michael Leonard?”
“I thank the Minister. She may be aware that I have raised this issue countless times with the Government and her predecessor. I am sure she is aware of the circumstances of the case. She says she has raised this with Mr. Hilary Benn MP. I think she will agree that it is worth raising again. Michael was a 24-year-old Donegal man. He was shot in the back and killed by the RUC on the Border at Brookhill in Fermanagh near Pettigo. For decades, the official narrative was that he was shot by a single shot that was fired accidentally by the RUC. New evidence uncovered in 2023 in British army logs by researchers has since exposed that at least three shots were discharged by a member of the RUC, contradicting the original account and raising profound questions about the circumstances of his death.”
“The family of Michael Leonard have now waited more than 50 years for the truth about how Michael was killed by the RUC on the Donegal-Fermanagh border in 1973. New evidence contradicts the original account and raises serious questions. We now have a change of landscape in Britain. The old legacy Act is being dismantled and new legacy structures are being put in place. In light of these developments, has the Minister raised Michael Leonard's case with the British Government or does she intend to raise it in a timely fashion?”
“One hundred per cent of it is going to developers who are already building these properties. Apartments that were sold last week benefited from this. The Tánaiste told us that this has already cost us €20 million since it was introduced on budget night. This is about filling the pockets of developers. It is doing what Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do. At the same time, those in government have shafted ordinary people during a cost-of-living crisis. Shame on them all.”
“This was not about reducing the cost of apartments. This was about so-called viability. Maybe this time next year the Tánaiste will be able to show me one apartment that is going to be sold, either in this city or anywhere else in the State, that was not viable at this point. This measure is going to cost us €250 million next year. Every apartment that is going to be sold next year - in the context of a measure that will cost €250 million - is already under construction. This is the biggest tax deadweight measure ever introduced.”
“I am sure he will trot out later not knowing what is happening and vote again with and in support of the Government, as his brother, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, will do. They will vote to put up the price of petrol and diesel on farmers, motorists and commuters in County Kerry and elsewhere because that is the reality of them. They got their 30 pieces of silver and they have sold their soul and abandoned any integrity they had on this issue. I will press the Healy-Rae amendment tonight.”
“This is putting the cart before the horse. I call this the Healy-Rae amendment. I was telling Deputy Danny Healy-Rae that he was going to be the star of the show in relation to this. Maybe he will come into the Chamber, wherever he is. This is the Healy-Rae amendment because, by God, the Healy-Raes gave it hammer and tongs on the issue of petrol and diesel. I must say, if awards were going – Miriam Lord gives out awards every year - the “brass neck award” has to go to Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. Did the Minister hear him on the Order of Business today? He stood up and asked the Taoiseach whether there was any chance he could do something about the cost of petrol and diesel, as well as the carbon tax and all the rest of it. Just this week, he voted against measures from Sinn Féin that would actually reduce carbon tax.”
“I could be wrong on this because I have not really looked in detail at the figures but probably every single car in the State, from now until then, would have to be an electric vehicle for us to actually meet that target. It is so far off. The reality is that people do not have that type of money to make that type of investment. We have seen petrol prices sky-rocket during the illegal invasion of Ukraine. They went up to €2.20 per litre and measures were introduced by the Government that brought them down below €2. It did not force people to stay at home, go off the road and all the rest, however. Indeed, the number of cars on the roads is actually increasing. This experiment happened in the last couple of years. Again, behavioural taxes work if alternatives are available and affordable to individuals.”
“In my county, two thirds of people rely on home heating oil to keep their house warm in winter. Across the west of Ireland in counties like Galway, Roscommon, Mayo and Leitrim, two thirds of people - over 1 million households across this State - are being penalised as a result of the Government’s measures. We see increases over and over again, not only with home heating oil but also with petrol and diesel. It could be argued that it is about trying to get people into electric vehicles, as if everyone has €40,000 or €50,000 to spend on a new electric vehicle, even if the infrastructure were there for them in areas. For those who can afford it and make that change, it is excellent. The Government is way off its targets in this regard, however. It is aiming for 1 million new electric vehicles by the end of 2030.”
“That is the effect of it at this point in time because people do not have the resources to provide the alternative types of heating that are required. That is the reality. We also see it when it comes to petrol and diesel. I come from and represent a Border county. It has been pointed out by Fuels for Ireland and others that the difference between the cost of a fill of home heating oil in Lifford compared with Strabane is €300. It is mad. What makes that difference? All the same global factors that are pushing up home heating oil prices, such as the war in Ukraine and the illegal invasion by Russia, are also pushing prices up in Strabane. The reason there is a €300 difference is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have decided to increase taxes significantly on the cost of trying to keep your house warm.”