Energy Prices
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

The Deputy keeps asking me the same questions. I have the back of ordinary workers. We tested that electorally in Galway West not that long ago when the Deputy's party put its proposition and I put mine. We won the by-election and his party did not. We have tested these propositions with the people because the people of Ireland know that, of course, it is more nuanced than the Deputy outlined. We are in the European Union. Energy is extraordinarily interconnected across the European Union. That is why it is not just my view, but the view of multiple governments of a whole variety of different political persuasions - some of the right, some of the left and some of the centre - that the best way to consider these issues is at a European level. That is not a new phenomenon in this House. It is also what we did when we previously introduced measures at the start of Russia's brutal illegal invasion of Ukraine.
We will continue to work on how best to deal with windfall profits. I share the Deputy's analysis of the situation on the windfall profits and how we best deal with that. We will continue to do that at European level. Domestically, we will continue as a Government to have the backs of ordinary workers. That is why we have brought in packages of measures that far exceed what most other European countries have done. We have an ability to do that because of our good management of the economy.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-29