The Ireland carbon tax on natural gas, heating oil and coal is €63.50 per tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2). The step to €71, first due on 1 May 2026, was pushed to 14 October 2026. Government has now signalled it may defer that increase again in Budget 2027. No final decision had been announced at the time of writing.
For a business, a deferral is a delay, not a discount. The Finance Act 2020 still sets annual increases of about €7.50 a tonne, reaching €100 per tonne in 2030.
The Ireland carbon tax still ends at €100 a tonne
Deferrals move the date of each step. They do not remove the steps. Every year a business waits, the gap between today’s rate and the 2030 rate stays on its books as future cost.
That matters most for sites that burn gas for space heating, hot water or process heat, where the tax is paid on every unit.
What the gap looks like on a 10 GWh gas bill
Take a site using 10 gigawatt hours (GWh) of natural gas a year, 10,000,000 kWh. At the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) factor of 183.5 g CO2 per kWh (gross calorific value, provisional 2025), that is about 1,835 tCO2.
- At €63.50 a tonne: about €116,500 a year in carbon tax
- At €71 a tonne: about €130,300 a year, €13,800 more
- At €100 a tonne in 2030: about €183,500 a year, €67,000 more than today
Method: annual kWh multiplied by 183.5 g, divided by 1,000,000 to give tonnes, multiplied by the rate. Excludes VAT, network charges and the gas price itself.
A second price signal arrives in 2028
The EU has postponed its new emissions trading system for buildings and road transport, known as ETS2, by one year. It now starts on 1 January 2028. Carbon pricing on heating fuels is moving from national policy to EU policy, not going away.
A heat pump, heat recovery or fuel switch project runs from audit through design and procurement to commissioning. Starting that work during a pause gives a site the best chance of cutting its exposure before the next price step.
Use the pause to cut the exposure
The cheapest tonne is the one a site no longer emits. Three steps usually come first:
- An energy audit that meters where the gas actually goes
- Heat recovery on compressors, chillers and process loads
- A costed heat pump or fuel switch plan for the largest heat users
Climeaction’s advisory team can build that plan, and our engineering design team can take it to tender.
Budget day is a date, not a deadline
Whatever the Minister announces on 6 October, the 2030 figure is already in law. Treat any deferral as a year of runway.
Test a site’s footprint with our carbon calculator, or contact us to scope an audit.
The legislated path reaches €100 per tonne regardless of annual deferrals. Sites that plan on that figure make heat decisions that hold up when the steps arrive.
