Kildare people left 'high and dry' in fuel crisis

A Sinn Féin TD has accused the government of “taking the Mick” over its handling of the current fuel crisis.

Deputy Réada Cronin was speaking in the Dáil this week when 'National Oil Reserves Agency (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage' came before the House.

Deputy Cronin said: “This legislation looks to protect more than 750,000 households that rely on home heating oil by reducing the price by a whopping 2 cent per litre. That is a reduction of about €20 on fuel that now costs almost €2,000. The Minister is taking the mick.

“Thousands of people in my constituency in north Kildare rely on home heating oil to heat their homes and have been left high and dry by this do nothing Government. Sinn Féin's legislation would have reduced the cost of a 1,000 litre tank by €183 instead of the measly €20 the Government has proposed here today.

“These are the protections that people need. Sinn Féin is calling on the Government to scrap the increase in the carbon tax, introduce proper measures that we have handed to it to protect those using home heating oil and invest out in solar and wind to protect families from future actions by warmongers.”

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Deputy Cronin said the reduction in excise duty was a welcome step but it “did not go far enough.”

She said people will still be paying more for petrol and diesel than they did before the start of the war, and that the carbon tax increase is going to offset “every measure the Government is bringing forward.”