The cuts were introduced in response to protests against high fuel prices in April that included the blockading of an oil refinery in Cork.

Following the protests, the government increased temporary fuel excise cuts to 32c on a litre of diesel and 27c for petrol. The cuts came as part of a wider fuel support package of €750 million.

The excuse cuts were extended in June, and will now be extended beyond September.

Fuel protestors on Dublin's O'Connell Street in April Alamy Alamy

The session to extend the excise cuts will be brief.

A one-hour session, kicking off as 12pm, is all that is needed.

Politicians will then return to their summer holidays, before returning to Leinster House on 16 September for the autumn session.

Speaking on Newstalk on Thursday, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O’Brien said it is correct that the government step in as fuel prices remain elevated.

He said the deferment will cost about €430 million.

He added that any further changes to excise will be part of an annual outlook that will be discussed as part of budget discussions.

O’Brien also confirmed that the carbon tax increase, which was deferred, and is due to kick-in in October, will also be considered as part of the budget discussions.

File image of Darragh O'Brien Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Sinn Féin has said it will not support the plan as it involves increases to the excise rates kicking in this year. The party will propose its own amendment to delay the reversal of supports further.

The Labour Party and the Social Democrats said it will support the government’s plan.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín meanwhile accused the government of “making it up as it goes along” on fuel tax hikes.

“The excise hikes are wrong and should be scrapped. But instead we get ever-changing deadlines and flailing around.”

Our political editor Christina Finn is at Leinster House.

Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins has been speaking to reporters.

He said the Dáil recall is “to a point meaningless” and has accused the government of “guillotining” the discussion down to one hour.

TD Michael Collins says there should be a full debate on fuel costs and that coming back to the Dail for one hour is meaningless. Carbon tax should also be frozen, he says. pic.twitter.com/lIIXdzk4mz

— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) August 28, 2026

Collins said he has tabled an amendment but added: “We’re not going to be allowed to debate our amendment today.

“It looks like they’re going straight into a vote, down the road at 1.15pm and back on holidays. 

“The people of Ireland are stretched and tired.”

He called for the cuts to be continued “indefinitely” and for the carbon tax to be frozen.

Independent Ireland’s Richard O’Donoghue remarked that the “working person has been penalised and now they’ve been penalised on the increased cost of fuel”.

“The only one that is in trouble in this country at the moment is people that work, and they’re the only ones that have been penalised.”

More from Christina Finn at Leinster House.

The Social Democrats are calling for a targeted tax credit for those earning under €70,000.

They also say that a one hour debate today is not acceptable.

Christina Finn / The Journal Christina Finn / The Journal / The Journal

When asked by reporters if the government should end the summer recess and bring TDs back to the Dáil early, Cian O’Callaghan remarked: “There’s a lot of things that need to be discussed.

“People are really feeling the crisis in terms of cost of living.

“At an absolute bare minimum, they should have brought the Dáil back for proper scrutiny of proposals and for the Taoiseach to answer questions.

“We don’t see any reason – in terms of range of issues that the country’s facing – why the government couldn’t be having the Dáil back earlier.”

Richard Boyd Barrett has said the government has “failed to address the cost and inflation crisis”.

“We’ve had a plan to increase deferred, another plan to increase deferred, we may well very likely have another plan to increase and defer in November and then again in December.”

He called for price controls on petrol, diesel and electricity and food items to address the cost of living crisis, which he said arising from Trump’s and Israel’s war with Iran. 

The government are afraid of public protest, says Richard Boyd Barrett who says another deferral by government could be likely in November. pic.twitter.com/aQXuKEzukM

— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) August 28, 2026

Ceann Comhairle is now recalling the Dáil.

Opposition TDs are now voicing upset that only an hour has been given over to the Dáil recall.

Richard Boyd Barrett labels it a “disgrace” and others voices concern that no amendments can be tabled.

Mary Butler is now saying that no opposition party opposed to the recall and said that this is the same time that has been allocated to previous financial resolutions. 

And mere minutes after being recalled, TDs are now given 10 minutes to vote on whether to have a debate on the financial resolution. 

Some more information here on what opposition parties said before breaking to vote.

They were given 30 seconds to speak. 

Sinn Féin’s Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said the hour-long debate was “simply unacceptable” while Cian O’Callaghan of the Social Democrats said the government has shown “contempt and disdain by only giving the absolute bare minimum of 60 minutes for this to be discussed and scrutinised”.

People Before Profit’s Richard Boy Barrett said: “You want to curtail the debate so we don’t actually get to discuss the cost-of-living crisis that is affecting hundreds of thousands of working people and families in this country. It’s pathetic.”

Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins added that the “one hour for debate is very unfair to the people that can’t pay their energy bills, can’t pay their fuel”.

He added: “And to find out today that part of this debate is now going to kick out the farmers rebate for farming contractors, that’s not going to be tolerated, it could lead to strikes in this country.”

Government chief whip Mary Butler said “every single member in this House agreed to the recess, there wasn’t one person who objected to it”.

She added: “Why we are here today is to ensure that excise increases on petrol and diesel do not go ahead next week or in October.

“This is a single financial resolution before the House today, and the time allocated is exactly the same one-hour debate that we’ve had for four previous financial resolutions in March and April.

“We are not here today to announce a budget. That will happen on 6 October.

“The public out there are awaiting the certainty that filling up at the pumps won’t be increasing because of excise increases, and we need to get on with providing that certainty.”

The Dáil is now set to debate the financial resolution following a vote in the Chamber.

Tánaiste Simon Harris is now addressing the House.

He says the decision taken this week “provides certainty and breathing space”.

Harris adds that the estimated cost is €407 million, “a significant intervention”.

Harris said this will “help families who have been affected by events that are taking place thousands of miles away”.

Harris adds: “When circumstances change, responsible government must be capable of changing wisdom.”

However, Harris says that “no government can completely insulate their country from a global energy shock”.

He adds that “good climate policy is also good economic policy” and remarks that “our dependence on imported fuels is not only an environmental vulnerability, it is a real economic vulnerability.”

Tánaiste Simon Harris addressing the Dáil Oireachtas TV Oireachtas TV

Harris now turns to the carbon tax and said he and the government support it.

“These are matters to be considered in the round and in the context of budgetary decisions.

“Today is not the budget. Today we have recalled the Dáil for a very specific and immediate purpose.

“There were increases at the pump due to hit motorists next week and we’ve decided that that should not happen.

“There was an immediate issue requiring an immediate decision, and today we took that decision.

“Our approach is clear,” says Harris. “Breathing space now, certainty where we can provide it, but intensive work towards greater independence for the future.”

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is now addressing the Dáil. 

She says “it’s clear you still haven’t got the message because your answer is not to halt fuel tax increases, but simply to reschedule them.

“You now propose increases from November, and to continue those increases through to February.

“What you bring today is not a solution, it’s kicking the can down the road.

“It’s postponing the pain, not removing it.

“And that is why we oppose your motion today.”

Mary Lou McDonald and Pearse Doherty in the Dáil Oireachtas TV Oireachtas TV

“You could have brought that certainty today,” said McDonald.

“Instead, you’ve left the threat of higher prices hanging over people.

“I want to be very clear: we support stopping the September and October increases, but we will not support a plan that simply moves those increases to November, December, January, and February.”

Meanwhile, Pearse Doherty said today is “simply delaying the pain”.

“There is noway that I will support that,” says Doherty.

“Yes, we have forced you into delaying the September and October increase, but it is six weeks of reprieve,” he added.

Doherty has labelled the vote a “farce and adds that it is “asking us to vote for what date can the government make life harder for people”.

“Is it 14 October, 1 November? Well, we are having none of it.”

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns is now addressing the Dáil.

She said the government is “permanently stuck in reaction mode: a crisis happens, pressure builds, people protest, and eventually, the government scrambles to put together an emergency response”.

“This is not a cost of living strategy,” said Cairns.

“It is a desperate approach from a government with no vision and no ambition.”

Holly Cairns addressing the Dáíl Oireachtas TV Oireachtas TV

Cian O’Callaghan is now telling the Dáil that the government has “no answer for the day after this deferral ends”.

“Make no mistake: this extension is not a plan,” said O’Callaghan.

“What we are seeing is a government that is lurching from crisis to crisis, coming up with emergency measure after emergency measure, measures that cost the taxpayer billions but do not last and do not fix anything.”

Cian O’Callaghan is currently addressing the Dáil, but when Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the government had to be dragged back for the recall, our political editor Christina Finn, who is in the Chamber, saw Simon Harris shake his head back and forth.

The Tánaiste continued shaking his head when Pearse Doherty claimed that Sinn Féin forced the government into reversing its decision.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik is now telling the Dáil that “we all know why we are here”.

“Government parties and the so-called independents feared the return of mass protests this week.

“It was hard to see how your government could have allowed the first phase of these cuts to end in the same week that schools return and commuter traffic ramps up.”

Ivana Bacik in the Dail today Oireachtas TV Oireachtas TV

“Your government has money aplenty but no vision,” says Bacik.

“You offer cash as the solution, short-term stopgap solutions like this every time, without just asking yourselves what the problem is. The problem is a government without vision, without a vision to change this country, to take the real and necessary climate action to tackle the climate crisis.”

As TDs debate the financial resolution, John Dallon looks on in the public gallery.

He’s a farmer from Kildare who was a prominent figure on the April fuel protests.

People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy has remarked that “there is one lesson from today’s farce, and it is that the government is scared of the people”.

He adds: “The only reason we are here today is because the government is scared of widespread protests about the cost of living crisis, and so in response we have a two-month stay of execution for petrol and diesel alone, completely inadequate.

“When the cost of living crisis, that is driven by Trump’s imperialist adventures in the Middle East, is worsening for working people right across the board, what people want, what people need, is certainty, is security, is stability.”

“Protests cause the reconvening of the Dáil, and protests are the way to get real relief for working people,” says Richard Boyd Barrett.

“And that’s why we’ll be mobilizing for 19 September to put pressure on this government to take serious action on the cost of living crisis that is blighting the lives of hundreds of thousands of working people and families and households in this country.”

Richard Boyd Barrett Oireachtas TV Oireachtas TV

Addressing Simon Harris, Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman says: “You talked big about the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, but in what we vote on today, you do nothing about it.

“At what point is your government going to move beyond sound bites and actually take meaningful steps?

“When will Irish households see your government make solar panels more affordable, reduce the cost of an electric vehicle, deliver more retrofit for Irish homes.

“These are individual measures that will give households decades worth of affordable energy, decades worth of energy security.

“When is the government going to move beyond short-term thinking, demonstrated by the measures we’re voting on today, and provide extra help so more Irish families can benefit from affordable and secure renewable energy.”

Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman Oireachtas TV Oireachtas TV

Ruth Coppinger is now addressing the Dáil. 

“It’s absolutely farcical to reconvene the Dáil for one hour over one aspect of one issue,” said Coppinger.

“You are not reconvening the Dáil to discuss back-to-school costs placing families this very week. They can’t wait for the budget in a month’s time.

“You’re not reconvening the Dáil either for the 50,000 students who can’t find accommodation, and the many in homeless accommodation, of course.”

She adds that Trump is “the architect of the cost of living crisis, yet will get the red carpet rolled out by this government”.

Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins has said the “time limit put on this today is a very unfair situation”.

He adds that the farming sector is “concerned because part of the cuts before also included the rebate for farmers”.

“That’s now going to be kicked away,” said Collins.

“The farmers are furious, and they’re talking about protesting.

“You’ve forgotten the people out there, the farmers and the contractors who are struggling at this present time.

“They’re really angry over this, and they’re asking for you to relook at this.

“I still think there’s time enough to do that, to relook at this.”

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has remarked that “all of this is happening for the simple reason because the government is afraid that the people will protest on the streets during the EU presidency”.

“The government is afraid of the people that they are supposed to represent,” said Tóibín.

Paul Gogarty has mentioned the recently deceased Dolly Parton in his remarks.

“We really need to look at the bigger picture,” said Gogarty.

Addressing Harris, he said: “You refer to our dependence on imported fossil fuels, and as the late great Dolly Parton once sang, ‘it’s a rich man’s game, no matter what they call it, and you spend your life putting money in his wallet’.

“We’re spending our Irish life putting money in the rich countries’ wallets. We’re sending a fortune abroad when we have the potential to be net energy exporters.

“But to be honest, there’s more energy in a flashlight at Electric Picnic than in this tired government right now.

“We need to get real and start acting now.”

And in a sure sign that the Dáil is back, it appears that Danny Healy-Rae’s phone has gone off once or twice during the debate. 

Michael Healy-Rae now addressing the Dáil. 

He’s welcoming the financial resolution and while others are calling on the government to ramp up its green ambitions, he says: “What we have to do is look at the taxation in the future of fuel, because quite simply, we pay too much tax and excise on the fuel that is used.

“It is very aspirational for people to be saying that by 2030 or 2035, we’ll have removed our reliance on fossil fuels. That’s not true.

“We won’t be able to do that in as speedy a fashion as what we might like to do.”

Minister of State at the Department of Finance Robert Troy has concluded the debate. 

Addressing the Dáil, he said: “Listening to some of the contributions from across the floor, you would be forgiven to think this was the introduction of new taxes, not an unwinding of temporary measures that were introduced.

“As you are all aware, we are living through a period of exceptional uncertainty, and exceptional measures have been taken not just by this government, by governments across the world in response to heightened fuel prices.

“We need to respond when and where is necessary, while ensuring that we act in a way that is fiscally responsible.” 

After an hour-long debate, TDs are now voting on the financial resolution to defer planned excise duty increases.

There are two votes coming up, the first of which is whether to put the government proposal to a vote, something Sinn Féin and others are opposing.

The second vote is now taking place, on the excise duty proposal itself.

And now for the actual vote on the financial proposal itself, and the Dáil has accepted the measure to delay the excise duty cuts.

The vote was 104 in favour, and 49 against.

And with that, the Dáil recall over and TDs will return to their summer recess and return on 16 September.