Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is a measure that benefits those who heat their homes by gas. There is no piped gas in my county of Donegal. There is not an inch of pipe in it. It does not exist. Even if people wanted to use gas, they could not do it. A total of 37% of households right across the board were left out of a policy decision to reduce the cost of heating homes. A policy decision was taken that was half-baked in looking only at gas. It could have looked at home heating oil as well. We are not looking to pursue micro-issues; we are looking for equality. There is no reason that a household in Donegal, Wexford or west Cork should be any more left to the side than a household in Dublin 4 or elsewhere in Dublin.

Why should they? There was a measure from the Government to support those households, rightly so, because of the cost-of-living crisis and the cost of keeping houses warm. We have seen the cost of gas increase dramatically but home heating oil increased more than gas. That is the point. The amendment extends this measure until the end of October. Why the end of October? It is because, let us be honest, it would be reviewed in the budget. It would be reviewed in the context of a cost-of-living crisis. We never said, however, that we should get rid of carbon tax on home heating oil. We never said that previously because carbon tax has been here for decades, as the Minister knows.

The issues are that we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and there is something we can do to alleviate the burden on those homes at present, in the same way the Government is bringing forward a measure for businesses using LPG to power their plant to keep down increasing costs. A measure was introduced by the Government relating to gas for businesses but it now recognises that as it left so many businesses to one side it is unfair, and it will bring forward a scheme that will capture those types of businesses. The Government has done exactly the same thing for households. It has brought forward a proposal for gas, where households primarily use gas to heat their homes, but there is nothing on offer for those who use home heating oil. In fact, there is - the Government will increase the cost. That is the problem.

The amendment is very clear. It is a very simple decision. I will press it to a vote. It is about reducing the cost for a fill of home heating oil by €125 or a decision to further increase the cost of home heating oil for those families come 1 May.