The Green Party has called on the Minister for Public Expenditure to make provision for a once-off Fossil Fuel Inflation Fund as part of Budget 2027 to protect households from ongoing fuel inflation.
When the Greens were in government from 2020 to 2024, energy credits were made available to struggling households, with the measures being present in the 2021 and 2022 budgets as a means of staving off the cost of living crisis.
Last year’s Budget, the first without Green involvement, had no energy credits, which has contributed to a record number of Irish households being in arrears on their energy payments.
The Fossil Fuel Inflation Fund, as the Greens call it, is a pot of €2.5 billion which would be used to provide support for households in the form of energy credits, as well as more long-term measures such as supporting Irish households to install solar panels and help with retrofits.
Ahead of the Dáil’s recall this Friday, Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman said “Ireland needs to escape the fossil fuel trap. Prices are spiraling wildly out of control. We need to give people immediate support, while also making ending our dependence on unreliable fossil fuels our national mission”.
“Attacks on fossil fuel infrastructure continue in both the conflict between the United States and Iran, and in the Ukraine War. There is no end in sight to either, which means across 2027, Irish consumers can expect to see higher energy bills, driven by our country’s dependence on fossil fuels,” the Dublin West TD predicted.
“The Minister for Public Expenditure needs to put aside a significant fund to help Irish families meet these energy cost increases, through a set of targeted energy credits that should be provided over Winter 2026-2027”, stated Green Party Public Expenditure Spokesperson, Pembroke councillor Hazel Chu.
“Along with short-term measures like energy credits to help Irish families with the immediate impact of fossil fuel inflation, the government needs to do more to give Irish households long term energy security,” according South-West Inner City councillor Michael Pidgeon.
Pidgeon who serves as the party’s finance spokesperson, said “the Fossil Fuel Inflation Fund would also be used to pay for additional measures in 2027 to increase the level of retrofits taking place on homes, and the number of solar panels being installed.”
“With applications for home energy upgrades up 96%, the demand is already there, the government should use the opportunity to help families take control of their energy bills. This fund will provide protection for Irish energy users in the long term,” Pidgeon said.