Windfall Tax on the Excess Profits of Energy Companies: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-30
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Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (SF), Donegal

Ireland has the most expensive electricity in Europe today. That did not happen by accident. We had a proud history in this State. We built Ardnacrusha, made possible by the visionaries who built that when this was a poor State with few resources. That led to the electrification of the entire State. We had the cheapest electricity because we controlled our own resources but then, when Europe talked about privatisation, we did it with gusto. We did it even more firmly than Margaret Thatcher's Government across the water. We handed over this precious resource to the private sector, which has profited from it ever since. That is how we got from the point where we had the cheapest electricity, publicly owned, to the most expensive electricity in Europe.
The Minister for energy, Darragh O'Brien, has met only one energy company this year - one - back in January. No effort is being made to hold them to account. The last time people got energy credits was when people were voting at the last election almost two years ago. It was so cynical. The Government is making no attempts to get those costs down by engaging with the energy companies. Is it any wonder the Government will not even consider a windfall tax? A windfall tax would give the Government the resources to bring back the energy credits. The Government has them anyway but it would have additional resources. It could look at a retrofit programme across the State. It could take more pressure off people in terms of diesel, petrol and home heating oil. I have no doubt the measures the Government will take in the budget will be half measures again. Why? Because the Government will not stand up to the energy companies that have profited off the backs of our people.
It was the fault of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael when they were in government. It was their policies that handed over this precious resource, built on the backs of visionaries and the Irish people. It was handed over for profit. The parties did not need to go as far as they did. We are asking them to listen to this motion from the Social Democrats, fully supported by Sinn Féin and, I have no doubt, by the vast majority of the Opposition because it is common sense. It gives the Government the resources to do what is right. This is not a tax on innovation or resourcefulness. It is a tax on profits that came on the back of wars in other countries. It makes sense and the Government should do it.

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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