The Dáil heard last night of a “war going on in people’s homes” amid the conflict in Iran, as people across the country struggle to pay energy bills. It comes as Simon Harris pledged that the Government will introduce “an appropriate intervention” as a measure to tackle escalating fuel and energy costs triggered by the war in Iran.
The claim was also made that the Government had been “brainwashed” by the Green Party during its time in Government, amid calls to cut the carbon tax.
The debate on a Sinn Fein motion moved by Pearse Doherty TD, calling for a reduction in the costs of fuel and home heating oil, heard of a deep energy crisis necessitating urgent measures, 19 days after the war started.
The motion called on the Government to scrap plans to increase taxes on home heating oil on May 1st, and to immediately reduce the cost of petrol, diesel and home heating oil.
“Outside of the real, horrible war going on, there was a war going on anyway in people’s homes. They could not pay their previous bills and now we are in a crisis situation,” said Independent Ireland leader, Michael Collins.
“I meet many constituents and some of them have told me – I presume it is the same in the Tánaiste’s constituency – that they had not filled the oil tank on the basis that the weather would turn fine in early March and they would not have to. They could put it off until the end of the year and have one less bill. They have now run out of oil. For elderly people, that is very difficult,” added Collins.
‘GOVT BRAINWASHED BY THE GREENS’
Independent Ireland hit out at the Green Party, with Michael Collins TD claiming that Deputy Roderic O’Gorman does “not want to agree with this motion, because it might mean we would have to lower the carbon tax and help people.”
“Deputy O’Gorman does not want to agree with this motion because it might mean we would have to lower the carbon tax and help people.
“The Green Party does not help people. When it was in government, it could have delivered a grant aid that would have encouraged homes to go solar. A grant of €1,800 when it will cost €20,000 is a pittance of a grant to encourage people. That is where there was a massive lost opportunity. When the Green Party was in government, it failed to deliver for the ordinary people who maybe would have turned around,” he claimed.
Deputy Collins said that he had a conversation with the Taoiseach on fossil fuels in 2022, and that at the time, “everybody around the world knew we needed fossil fuels. We are all trying to move away in a different direction. I fully understand that.”
“Unfortunately, the Taoiseach at that time was brainwashed by the Greens. All the Deputies on that side were brainwashed by the Greens. I could not get them to understand that they would need fossil fuel going forward.
“In 2022, the Taoiseach told me I was wrong. Today, we are right,” he said.
Collins said that the Greens had promised the world and spent four to five years in Government, but “delivered absolutely nothing save for more taxes.”
He said that people would like to turn to solar energy, adding that “there is no point in anyone saying we should not have solar energy; that is only nonsensical rubbish. People are anxious to turn to solar, but if you want to run a home on solar energy – I listened to a person recently who is getting solar energy – you are talking about a cost of €17,000 to €20,000. The grant is €1,800. That is paltry. In the name of God. That was the Green Party.”
He referred to statistics from the Irish Petrol Retailers Association, which show that retailers are operating on margins as low as 1%, with underground tanks holding just a few days’ worth of stock, meaning they must pay rising wholesale prices immediately or go without supply.
‘IT IS CAUSED BY GOVERNMENT POLICY’
“They cannot absorb these increases. They are price-takers, not price setters. Meanwhile, the State takes 60% to 65% of the cost of every litre in taxes and levies – excise, carbon taxes, a National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, levy and VAT on top of everything else,” said Collins.
“The list goes on. We are told that international instability is pushing up prices but the reality is clear, in that Ireland’s pre-tax fuel prices are around the EU average, yet once taxes are added, we shoot to the top of the European price table.
“That is not caused by retailers or the ordinary motorist. It is caused by Government policy. Who pays the highest price for that? It is the rural communities where a car is not a luxury, but a necessity. It is lower and middle-income families who cannot afford an electric vehicle. It is tradespeople such as fishers, farmers, carers and haulage operators who keep the shelves stocked. Many can no longer absorb these hikes. For them, the weekly fuel bill has become a crisis.”
The debate heard that the Irish Petrol Retailers Association had been “crystal clear” in its asks: reduce excise duty on petrol and diesel; pause carbon tax increases until the real impact is assessed; review the layering of the levies and the practice of taxing taxes; and establish a proper, consultative forum so that these decisions are not made over the heads of the people most affected by them.
“This is not about avoiding climate action. It is about fairness and balance,” said Mr Collins. “The current approach is regressive and hits rural Ireland hardest.”
It comes as Tánaiste Simon Harris said the Government is finalising a plan to tackle fuel and energy costs, with Mr Harris saying that the Coalition will bring forward “an appropriate intervention” within the next week. It is anticipated that any such measures will be short-term.
‘I ASK THE GOVT TO GIVE IT BACK AT THE PUMPS’
Danny Healy-Rae told the debate that “people are going under,” and that it would be “very easy” for the Government to stage an intervention.
The Independent referred to a report that claimed the Government is now taking in €40 million per week more in taxes from price increases.
“I am asking it to give that back,” he said. “I am asking the Government to give it back at the pump where the people are paying for it and to reduce the amount charged at the pump by the amount of extra taxes that it is getting in.
“It will cost the Government nothing but I am asking it, please, not to charge the people on the road and those depending on home heating oil. Do not charge them any more than they are being charged already. They are being charged enough taxes. I ask the Government to give it back by reducing the cost per litre at the pump and to get home heating oil in the door.
“It is very easy to do it; I ask the Government to give it back at the pumps where it is taking it from. The sooner the Minister does it, the better because people are going under. They cannot stick the pressure,” said Healy-Rae.
In response to Sinn Fein TD Martin Kenny, Simon Harris insisted that the Government was going to take action.
“People are very annoyed it has taken so long for the Government to come to this situation that the Tánaiste is now able to stand here this evening and say the Government intends to do something. Up until now the Government would not even acknowledge that it intended to do anything. All it intended to do was examine the situation and monitor it.
“What people hear when the Government says that is that it is going to wait to see if things get worse and that it is not going to do anything about it now. That is what they have been hearing until now and that is not acceptable,” said Kenny.