Energy and Fuel Costs: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-29 ============================================================ Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to deal with this important matter of energy and fuel costs. I also thank the officials from the Department who are here today. It is timely to have this discussion. At the outset, I want to say that protecting agriculture, forestry, horticulture and farm viability will be the centre of my contribution to the debate on energy and fuel costs. Without a viable agricultural sector, food security, rural employment and the resilience of local economies will be in deep trouble. Energy security must be central to budget 2027 and I have no doubt from utterances from the Government members and, indeed, the Opposition that it will be a central part of budget 2027. That is an important focus that the Government has chosen to take and lead out on. I want to acknowledge that. The cost of fossil fuels has virtually doubled in the last year. I welcome the proposed kerosene boiler scrappage scheme that was announced informally yesterday but formally today. That is a positive and welcome intervention. As part of budget 2027, I am calling for a number of measures. I am calling for a reduction in the levies and taxes on fuel across the board generally, given the set of circumstances in which budget 2027 is now going to have to be framed. I am calling for enhanced financial measures on renewables. I am calling for a halt to the proposal to phase out the selling of solar power back to the electricity grid. It has been confirmed by a number of newspapers in the last week that there is this proposal on the phasing out of selling solar power back to electricity grid. Selling solar power back was a positive intervention and one that was marketed and sold as a positive contribution in terms of people's partnership and active engagement. That is an important issue to look at. I am calling for greater support for the Irish horticultural industry, which is heavily reliant on energy for production. Greater supports for protected crops and mushroom producers are central to any vibrant, profitable horticultural food sector. It is a particularly vulnerable sector due to its reliance on energy-intensive production - heat, cooling, water, irrigation - all of which requires the use of energy to be successful. Dairy, beef and tillage farmers, along with agricultural contractors, are facing soaring operational costs, which threatens overall food production and, indeed, profit margins. That is simply not sustainable in the long run. I acknowledge the fact that the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, made a detailed submission to the Department outlining significant exposure to growers in relation to the increased fuel and energy costs. The IFA works collaboratively with the Government and the Government has engaged with it in pre-budget talks. That is an important facet and one I want to endorse in terms of the IFA's asks of Government in the context of budget 2027. I hope that the IFA recommendations and those of other farm representative organisations and bodies will form part of the Government's central response to the sector in budget 2027. The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Deputy Harris, has acknowledged that fuel, fodder and fertiliser are the top challenges facing the sector. He has also acknowledged the need for targeted responses and interventions, and I hope those will be seen in budget 2027. Turning to solar energy, we cannot have a situation where solar farms impact negatively on highly productive agricultural land and our communities. I have been to counties Meath, Tipperary, Cork, Cavan and Galway where I have met with communities that have real challenges in this regard. There are no specific planning guidelines in place to deal with solar energy development. I acknowledge Senator Kennelly, who had a Commencement matter in this House only a few days ago. On 22 October 2025, the Minister clearly said there were no guidelines in place at that time. Surely it was important to call that out and certainly that must be happen. This must be a top priority for Government along with reform of the outdated wind energy guidelines. A national planning statement for solar energy needs to be fast-tracked and it needs to include appropriate environmental assessment and, more importantly, meaningful, not meaningless, public consultation. I draw the Minister of State's attention to the national energy affordable task force interim report of 2025. This document and its successor contain the keys to reform in terms of social intervention and taxation intervention. It has to be measured, targeted and responsive. When I started, I said I wanted to focus on agriculture, horticulture and forestry. These are critical areas that require diesel, green diesel, fuel. I spoke earlier today about the billions of crops that we are importing into this country. This is a country where we grow beet, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots and broccoli very successfully. We have to support the horticultural sector. When I talk about protected crops I am talking about soft fruits and crops that are under cloches, tunnels or glass houses. They need energy for ventilation, irrigation and light. They need energy to sustain their businesses. I ask for these matters to be taken on board. I know this is not budget day. I thank Fine Gael for tabling this motion, which allows me and others on this side of the House to make a contribution to the bigger debate about energy, its costs and its impact on sustainable enterprise and sustainable agriculture, food and forestry. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-09-29/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-29