Pearse Doherty: Government fuel and electricity hikes are reckless
Pearse Doherty addresses the Dáil to condemn new fuel and energy price rises and to set out Sinn Féin's amendment demanding the Government stop planned increases. He warns that millions of households will face higher electricity bills, new EU import charges, and significant petrol and diesel tax hikes in the coming months.
Pearse Doherty highlights that over a million households will see electricity costs rise and that double-digit increases in gas and electricity are kicking in now. He also notes a new €3 charge on imports from outside the EU decided by the European Commission, and criticises the Government's plan to raise diesel by £0.34 and petrol by £0.29 between now and Christmas.
Doherty argues these measures will deepen cost-of-living pressures already felt in supermarkets, rents and insurance. He says the Cabinet decision to phase in fuel tax increases is tone deaf to people struggling to pay bills and that many cannot afford expensive electric cars the Government appears to expect them to buy.
Sinn Féin has tabled an amendment asking the Government to halt these planned increases at the proposed scale and pace. Doherty presses ministers to listen to ordinary people, and frames the dispute as a choice about what kind of Ireland is possible: one that eases burdens, not adds to them.
Doherty criticises the Government for failing to push back against EU policy despite holding the EU Presidency, and warns that further staged increases in fuel duty are planned next year and beyond. He calls on colleagues in the Dáil to support Sinn Féin's alternative and prevent further pressure on households.
Immediate impact and figures
Pearse Doherty highlights that over a million households will see electricity costs rise and that double-digit increases in gas and electricity are kicking in now. He also notes a new €3 charge on imports from outside the EU decided by the European Commission, and criticises the Government's plan to raise diesel by £0.34 and petrol by £0.29 between now and Christmas.
Why this matters for families
Doherty argues these measures will deepen cost-of-living pressures already felt in supermarkets, rents and insurance. He says the Cabinet decision to phase in fuel tax increases is tone deaf to people struggling to pay bills and that many cannot afford expensive electric cars the Government appears to expect them to buy.
Sinn Féin's response and demands
Sinn Féin has tabled an amendment asking the Government to halt these planned increases at the proposed scale and pace. Doherty presses ministers to listen to ordinary people, and frames the dispute as a choice about what kind of Ireland is possible: one that eases burdens, not adds to them.
Political context and consequences
Doherty criticises the Government for failing to push back against EU policy despite holding the EU Presidency, and warns that further staged increases in fuel duty are planned next year and beyond. He calls on colleagues in the Dáil to support Sinn Féin's alternative and prevent further pressure on households.
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Transcript
Go raibh maith agat, Ceann Comhairle, agus go raibh maith phealte ar bhfuilte ruin seo ar an chosas mairealte aile, agus ta lleasú choraí síos ag Sinn Féin ar an méide ta choraín taisí ag an ríoltas, mar go bhfuil an ríoltas a gerí orainn, táci ar do thúr dan méide ta choraín taisí achusain ag raidh go thúr, go maith ag maith préis an díosal choraín suos tríochair cent idair seo agus nálaic, agus préis an petról choraín suos fíon nuaí cent idair seo agus nálaic, agus taí seo, a mo choraímsa, deo iéntaí, taí seo, ní o seo glaciaí i greu ghaoníon na tíra seo, mar taisegai ghaol brú bhealte na athu, agus an ríodail becháir dan ríoltas a bheidh deannu, na tórt phuaíseo do ghaoníon taic straitháilseo mhaoin seo, an neit a bheidh choir níos mó brú agus níos mó bheala ar agus golaine, agus sin an ríodail taic tarlu an nío, agus season Sinn Féin, go haile is go hoamhleann an níod an sin, ní thóir go maith praiseann petrol agus diesel agus galsuas le linn an táirí, agus ní thóir go maith seo galsuas an méid sin a taí a dhéirí agus an ríoltas. Ceann Córlé, today households across the state are hit with blow after blow, and this has been a continuous situation for the last number of years. Prices rising, whether it's in our supermarkets, whether it's rents, whether it's insurance, whether it's the cost of the basics just to get by. But today is a dark day for people because over a million households will see their electricity rise. I heard the Minister talk that his Minister sat down with the electricity companies and the energy generators, and what was the response? Double-digit increases in gas and in electricity kicking in today. That is going to really, really hurt people. Today is also the day that the European Commission decided that the Irish people should pay more tax for them. Every single person who now buys a product from outside the European Union will be hit by a €3 charge as of today. Again, another ridiculous situation and disastrous policy introduced by the Commission, which our government has refused to stand up against, despite them now taking on the prestigious position of the EU Presidency. And today is also the day that the government come forward with their amendment to this House and ask us that we pat them all on the back for the job that they think that they're doing, but more importantly, that they ask us to support the idea that they would increase the price of diesel by £0.34 between now and Christmas and the price of petrol by £0.29 between now and Christmas. And I ask you genuinely, to the Cabinet Ministers who sat around the table yesterday morning and decided that this was a good idea, are you not listening to people? Are you not talking to people in your own constituency? Do you not hear the concerns of people who can't pay their electricity bills? The concerns of people who work every hour that God sends them, but yet still finds it tough to make ends meet at the end of the week? Do you not hear about people talking about how the shopping trolley has got more expensive? And how in under God can you sit at a Cabinet table and decide to bring forward a proposal that says let's increase the price of diesel by £0.34 between now and Christmas? It is simply outrageous, it should not happen, and it is absolutely tone deaf to the concerns, the frustration and the worries of the Irish people right across the state. And that's why Sinn Féin have tabled an amendment here to demand that the Government do not proceed with these increases at the scale that they're at and in the timeframe that they have proposed. Because we don't have to be like this. Ireland doesn't have to be the country that has got the highest taxes in petrol and diesel across the European Union. Ireland doesn't need to be the country that charges the highest electricity costs across the European Union. Ireland does not need to be the country where we charge some of the most highest rents in the European Union. There is a different type of Ireland that is possible, but it requires a Government that listens, that understands, and that takes action to meet the needs of ordinary people. What a Government's responsibility is, is at a time of pressure on its citizens, is to lift the burden off them. Not to do what used it yesterday at Cabinet, was to decide how we can place more burden on the shoulders of ordinary Irish people and how we can do that over a period, over the next four months, that we'll get away with it. It's simply wrong. You're kicking the can down the road, but the end result is the same. The end result that you're asking us to support here is a 34 cent increase in diesel, pushing the price of diesel well beyond 2 euro, pushing the price of petrol up another 29 cent, and you're not even finished at that, because after that, you plan to increase it again next year, next year, the year after, and the year after. It is absolutely reckless, and it is bound by this notion that if we increase the price of diesel and petrol on people, if we make it so hard, so expensive for them, just to get into their car and drive up that road, that they might all go and buy an electric car. Well, let me tell you this. People in my constituency don't have the 40 or 50 thousand euro to buy new electric cars, so the government need to get real here. This cannot go ahead, and I'm asking you to support our amendment.