Windfall Tax on the Excess Profits of Energy Companies: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-30
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Gary Gannon (SD), Dublin Central

I thank Deputy Whitmore for all the work she does in this area. The Minister of State ended her contribution saying the Government countermotion "more accurately reflects the reality". I begin with a simple premise. There are 323,000 households in arrears on their electricity bills in Ireland today. There are people struggling to pay their rent and their bills. There are people who are terrified about those bills coming through the door. At the same time, we have energy companies recording eye-watering profits. I know they will be mentioned in the contributions to this debate, but some of those figures are astounding. The ESB recorded pre-tax profits of €445 million in the first six months of the year. Energia recorded €70 million in pre-tax profits in a single quarter. Bord Gáis recorded a profit of €50 million in the first six months of the year. It is blindingly obvious to all of us that the Government should act and that the countermotion does not better reflect the reality. It does not reflect the reality on the ground for many of my constituents and, I am sure, many of the Minister of State's constituents, who are genuinely terrified.
We are simply saying that we are in a time of great need. There are people in substantial energy arrears, with average arrears standing at close to €500.
They cannot go any further. At the same time, energy companies are profiting from the very same crisis that is creating fear in the households of constituents of mine and the Minister of State and across the length and breadth of Ireland. This is a binary choice. Who does the Government believe should suffer more in a time of crisis: energy companies, which are profiteering from this crisis, or householders who have told the Government they are struggling?
Over the last couple of weeks, it has been common for Ministers to go on air and say they will not be able to solve every crisis. Maybe they could just pick one or two and say they will solve them. In the great crisis of our time, people are genuinely fearful of how they will heat their homes or, in the absence of that, what they will sacrifice to be able to be warm in the evenings. The Government can actually solve that. We are not coming in here and asking for something that cannot be done. It is not a pie-in-the-sky policy. It is something the Government has done before and has legislated for before. This is within its gift. We do not have to wait to be told we are the good little boys of Europe. We can acknowledge that households are struggling, make the requisite decision to alleviate some of that and have it paid for through the profits of energy companies. It is that simple.
The Minister of State can think of whatever constituent she likes. I am thinking of some of the ones I met when I was out canvassing the other night, who told me they are fearful of the winter. I want to prioritise addressing their fears over the profits of energy companies. I hope the Government will reflect on that reality.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-30