Windfall Tax on the Excess Profits of Energy Companies: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-30
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Cian O'Callaghan (SD), Dublin Bay North

I thank my colleague, Deputy Whitmore, for leading on this Private Members' business and for all the work she does in this area. I also thank everyone who contributed to the debate.
I find the Minister of State's contribution and the position of the Government extraordinary. The Government keeps saying this is up to the European Union and if something comes from the Commission, the Irish Government will look at it and so forth. That is despite, as has been pointed out, the Commissioner saying the Commission will not do this but countries can do it themselves and bring forward proposals in accordance with EU law. The Government has been putting the ball into the EU's court, the EU has kicked it back and the Government is left with no response at all. The responsibility is clearly on the Irish Government to do something. This happens on a lot of issues, in that the Government does not act and says instead that the European Union might do something or the European Union is stopping us from doing it. That is irresponsible because, ultimately, that kind of narrative can lead to growing Euroscepticism, which we should all push strongly back against.
On what the Minister of State said about solar, if one goes to farms in other countries, on every single farm building one will see solar. What is it other European countries have that we do not have which enables them to do this? Perhaps strong political leadership is the missing thing. I do not think it is the farmers. Irish farmers are as supportive of renewables and pushing solar as any other area, as the Minister of State acknowledged.
We are talking here about super-profits and extra profits - profits that were never anticipated or expected. A windfall tax on profits that were never expected or anticipated is an entirely just proposition. We would claw back those profits for measures such rolling out more solar and helping people on lower incomes and farmers in rural areas transition to more renewables, which are really good objectives. This would create more funding for that. It would also have the effect of creating an incentive for energy companies to push down their prices because if they know their excess profits will be clawed back by the State, they will not have an incentive for higher profits. There is no justification at all for the Government's inaction on this. It is a constructive proposal. It has been done before. It can and should be done. We urge the Government at this late stage to adopt our proposal for this windfall tax.

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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