Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly has said that the government parties must take action to protect families from rising home heating oil costs.
New data from the European Commission revealed that Ireland has experienced the largest increase in home heating oil prices anywhere in the European Union; prices have risen 27.3% in a single week, putting it at eight times above the EU average.
Donnelly said that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael “cannot continue to stand by” as families start to feel the pinch.
Donnelly noted that even prior to the Iran War, the cost of living crisis was already stretching household budgets; now the greatest shock to the oil system since the 1973 oil crisis is putting families “under enormous pressure.”
He said the surge in home heating oil prices was “staggering” and “far beyond anything seen across the rest of Europe.”
“In just one week, the price of home heating oil here jumped by more than 27%, compared with an EU average increase of just over 3%. For many households, this means the cost of filling a tank has soared to nearly €1,800,” he noted.
“For the 700,000 households that rely on heating oil, these increases are simply unaffordable,” he warned.
The Dublin Wes TD said that the government are currently acting as a spectator, and said that mentality was not going to work in this context, saying that the government “needs to intervene immediately.”
He noted that Sinn Féin have intrdocued legislation to cut excise duties on diesel and petrol; he said that the legislation would “bring real relief to households and workers.”
Donnelly said the government must stop “acting as a spectator” and “intervene immediately.”
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael also need to suspend planned carbon tax increases and cut VAT on home-heating oil in line with the lower 9% rate applied to electricity and gas,” he said.
Donnelly stated, “there must also be a full investigation into price gouging in the fuel market. If companies are exploiting an international crisis to boost profits while families struggle to heat their homes, that cannot be tolerated.”
The Dublin West TD said that the government parties and the independent TDs propping them up “cannot continue to act like spectators while households are hammered.”
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael must act now to bring prices down and protect families,” he said.