Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State might be aware that he and some of his colleagues are involved in a deliberate campaign of misinformation. Indeed, it is right out of the Trump playbook. Fine Gael representatives online, on radio and on television have all claimed no excise duty applies to home heating oil. I suspect this was done to distract households who use home heating oil, and those who are struggling with the price increases they have seen, from Government inaction. It is untrue. Excise duty is applied to home heating oil at a rate of €84.84 for 1,000 l and will rise on Sunday, 1 May, to €103.83 for 1,000 l. Under the European excise directive, this could be reduced to zero. The Minister of State has admitted that. This would reduce the cost of filling a tank by €118 when VAT is included.

Why does the Minister of State believe that we should not reduce the burden on these households when the price has increased by 127% in the past 12 months? Why does he believe that we should actually increase the burden on these very same households on Sunday evening?

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