Windfall Tax on the Excess Profits of Energy Companies: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-30
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Conor Sheehan (LAB), Limerick City

The ESB made €377 million in the first half of 2026 while the Irish households that we all represent had to choose between heating and eating. This is a 20% increase in the past year. To be honest, it is completely abnormal and unacceptable. If the European Commission is not going to act on this then we, as a body politic, need to act here in Ireland. We need to tax these profits and redirect them to struggling households through targeted energy credits, a fund to help people who are in arrears and expanding retrofitting and solar. The Commissioner was very clear yesterday when he said member states have the power to act. Many EU member states have done so, as my colleague Deputy Nash, has outlined. The Commissioner said that a common EU approach is more complicated. This is why there must be no more excuses for the Government for its failure to act on this.
Last Thursday the Tánaiste said the Government has a plan on energy affordability. He also said that it has the energy task force report but he could not say when it will be published. I presume it will not be published because it will slap the Government on the wrist for what it has not done on energy affordability. If this feels like Groundhog Day it is because it is Groundhog Day. We are effectively in the same position as we were when Putin first invaded Ukraine in 2022.
If we imposed a windfall tax on the grotesque profits of these energy companies, we could pay for the retrofitting revolution we need. There is no point in having a boiler scrappage scheme if people cannot afford to turn on the boiler. The CEO of ESB got €161,000 of a pay increase. This is grotesque when we look at the profits it is making and the price increases it is passing on to Irish consumers, and when we look at the fact that ordinary PAYE workers, particularly public sector workers, are going out on strike. The profits these energy companies are making off the misery and hardship of the people we all represent is completely unacceptable and it is high time the Government reined them in.

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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