Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)

We have as a Government delivered over €3.3 billion in credits to over 2.3 million households in recent times, but we need to be strategic with this upcoming budget. Once-off measures are certainly not a long-term fix. That is why, as I said earlier, we have established the national energy affordability task force which is preparing an interim report to inform budget 2026. We are also looking at structural reforms, not just short-term relief.

As I said earlier, we have extended the reduced VAT rate on energy to help households directly and we are very much focused on targeted sustainable measures, not just repeating the same approach. We are also investing record funding in energy upgrades that will permanently lower bills for many of those at most risk.

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