Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Since the energy crisis began, this Government has increased the price of home heating oil twice, and is planning to do so again next May, unless it changes track in the budget. Everything the Minister has said so far suggests that it will not. This is in addition to the increases we have seen in the market price. This is putting additional pressure on households, and there has been an unfair gap in Government policy when it comes to tax on household energy prices in the past year. VAT rates have been reduced for electricity and gas, but not for the 37% of households using home heating oil as their primary source of heating. There has been a measure, if you are heating your home with gas. However, if you are one of the more than one third of people who use home heating oil, which in my county rises to two thirds, there is nothing. Actually, it is not that there is nothing. The Minister for Finance will continue to increase the cost of home heating oil on you and your family. That is not acceptable. The price internationally has increased dramatically. The price to fill your tank has gone up by €240 in the past two months. There is an option for the Government to do what Sinn Féin is proposing, namely, to cut the excise duty, which is in the form of a carbon tax, in this year's budget. We have shown how it can make the necessary investments in a just transition with €540 million of investment in climate action. This can be done without penalising households who want to keep their families warm this Christmas, or without penalising motorists who want to get from A to B, whether that is dropping their kids to school, visiting a relative in the hospital, or travelling to work.

See this speech in context