The Spark #026: September's Fuel Excise Hikes Are Scrapped and Dublin's 80,000 Home Pipeline
Shamrock Electrical
Welcome to Issue #26. Two weeks ago we told you to brim the tank before September 1st. Good news: you can stand down. The Government has scrapped the September and October excise increases, and the Dáil is being recalled on Friday just to confirm it. We also dig into the Dublin housing pipeline report, keep an eye on copper and the autumn price hikes, and open the September book with wall lanterns and a pre-start checklist. And with some schools back this week and the rest following next week, the morning roads are only warming up.
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September's Fuel Excise Hikes Are Scrapped, and the Dáil Comes Back Friday to Confirm It
The excise increases due on September 1st and October 1st are not happening. The Government announced on Friday that both steps of the fuel excise restoration, 10 cent on diesel and 9 cent on petrol next Monday and another 8 cent on both in October, are cancelled, and the Dáil is being recalled for a single day this Friday to pass the financial resolution confirming it. The stated reason is the ongoing instability in the Middle East keeping pump prices high, with diesel already averaging €1.92 a litre. Standing down the increases costs the exchequer around €100 million a month.
In Issue 024 we gave you the four dates and told you to fill everything on August 31st. That advice is now happily out of date, and this is exactly the kind of U-turn worth knowing about before you build a fuel surcharge into every autumn quote. One caution: only the September and October steps are cancelled. The November 1st and December 1st increases, 7 cent on diesel and 5 cent on petrol each time, are still officially pencilled in, with the Government saying it will keep them under review.
What it means for you: The €700-a-year excise hit we calculated for a typical diesel van is off the table for now, and diesel at the pump stays where the market puts it rather than getting a tax push. If you added a travel adjustment line to autumn quotes on the back of the September rise, you can soften it, but keep it for jobs running into November and December until those steps are formally scrapped too. And there is no longer any reason to queue at the pumps on Monday.
Dublin Has Planning for 80,285 Homes, But Starts Are Going Backwards
The Department of Housing's Dublin Housing Supply Pipeline report for Q2 2026 landed at the weekend, and the headline gap is stark: 80,285 homes in Dublin have planning permission, up 2.3 per cent on last year, but only 41.9 per cent of them have actually commenced. Around 10,100 are complete and 23,500 are under construction across 209 active sites, and overall construction activity in the capital is down 6.9 per cent year on year.
The shape of what is coming is worth noting too: 66,692 of the permitted units are apartments, and in the Dublin City Council area apartments make up 97 per cent of everything permitted. Judicial reviews are holding up just under 4,000 units, down 9.3 per cent on last year.
What it means for you: Permissions up, starts down means the bottleneck is money and viability, not planning. When those apartment schemes do move, they are electrical-heavy work: distribution boards per unit, communal and emergency lighting, access control containment and landlord supplies. If your work leans on Dublin new-build, the pipeline is real but the tap is slow, so keep the retrofit and commercial strings on the bow. It also means the first-fix crews chasing the same domestic renovation work as you are not getting pulled back to the big sites just yet.
⚖️ Watch List: Copper, Autumn Hikes and the Apprentice Repeats
Copper. The dip lasted three days. LME copper eased early last week, then rose four sessions on the trot to sit around $14,400 a tonne on Monday, up more than 50 per cent on a year ago, with exchange warehouse stocks down by nearly half since mid-May. Nothing here changes last week's advice: cable will not be getting cheaper, so order what September needs now and keep validity short on cable-heavy quotes. Twin and earth, SWA, singles and flex are all available in-store at Greenogue, ring 01 401 9907 for today's trade price.
Autumn hikes. Nobody has followed Pinergy's 7.6 per cent rise yet, but the smart money says they will: wholesale costs are running well ahead of last year, and the CRU's network charge increase of €41.25 a year lands on every bill from October 1st regardless of supplier. Network charges are now roughly 40 to 45 per cent of an Irish electricity bill. Every one of these headlines is a door-opener for LED upgrades, controls and heating conversations.
Apprentice repeats. The SOLAS Phase 4 and Phase 6 repeat theory exams run next month, with no exam fees, following the marking controversy earlier this summer. The independent review of the papers has not been published as of this week, so there is nothing new to report on the outcome. If you employ a Phase 4 or Phase 6 apprentice, confirm their exam dates and sort release and study time now rather than the week of the sitting. Queries: 1800 794 487 or apprenticeship@solas.ie.
🌿 The September Book Opens: Front-of-House Lighting Season
Sunset in Dublin is already before half eight, and by the end of September it will be around seven. This is the fortnight the enquiry mix turns: the summer renovation punch lists wind down, and in their place come the security lighting calls, the first heating questions, and commercial clients back from holidays wanting fit-out work quoted before Christmas.
The easiest early win is the front of the house. A wall lantern either side of the door, or one good fitting with a dusk-to-dawn photocell, transforms how a house looks and feels coming home in the dark, and it is the sort of job a homeowner says yes to in September without a second quote. Three prompts worth using this fortnight:
- Every handover: "Have you thought about the front door for the winter?" One question, thirty seconds, regular bookings.
- Every callout to a house with a dark drive: mention a photocell lantern while you are there. The van is parked, the ladder is out, the marginal cost of the add-on is nearly nil.
- Estates built in the 90s and 2000s: the original builder-grade lanterns are corroded, yellowed or dead. A matching pair of modern IP44 fittings is an easy street-by-street campaign.
🔦 Product Spotlight: Wall Lanterns and the Fumagalli Range
Our wall lanterns range covers the front-of-house job from builder-replacement basics up to the premium end, and the premium end is where the Fumagalli range earns its keep: Italian-made, UV-stable resin bodies that never corrode, sealed to IP55 and up, with a lifetime guarantee on the body. For coastal jobs or anywhere salt air eats standard steel lanterns, Fumagalli is the answer to the callback problem.
Worth pairing on the same install:
- Dusk-to-dawn photocells and timer control, see our outdoor switches range, so the lantern runs itself from the day it is fitted.
- An outdoor socket while the ladder is out: our twin outdoor sockets are the classic add-on line, and Christmas lights season is closer than anyone wants to admit.
Trade pricing: Website prices are retail. On a pair of Fumagalli lanterns, never mind a street of them, the trade rate is worth the phone call every time. Ring the counter on 01 401 9907 or email sales@shamrockelectrical.ie with your list and we'll price it properly. Consumer units, MCBs, RCBOs and switchgear remain available in-store at Greenogue.
💡 Contractor Tip of the Week: The Ten Minute Pre-Start Site Visit That Saves the Job
September means new starts, and most of the jobs that go wrong in October went wrong before anyone lifted a tool, at the site visit that never happened. Ten minutes with a phone camera before you price saves the argument later. The checklist:
- Photograph the board. Make, age, spare ways, condition of the tails and the bonding. Half of all "small jobs" grow the moment the board is opened. If it needs upgrading, the customer hears it at quote stage, not on day one.
- Walk the cable routes. Solid floors, insulated attics and finished ceilings all change your first-fix hours. Look, do not assume.
- Check access and parking. If the van is 200 metres away or it is permit parking, that is real time on every carry. Price it or plan it.
- Ask what the other trades are doing and when. Your second fix depends on the plasterer's programme, not yours. Get the sequence in writing, even one text message.
- List the materials the same evening. While the job is fresh in your head, build the list and send it to the counter for pricing. Cable prices being what they are, quote off today's numbers, not last month's.
- Note the extras out loud. The dark side passage, the dead lantern at the door, the socket-less patio. Write them on the quote as options. They cost nothing to offer and they are where the margin lives.
📅 Dates to Know
- Friday August 28th: Dáil sits for one day to confirm the excise cancellation.
- Next week: All schools back. Morning traffic at full strength, counter opens 7am, or phone the order the evening before.
- Monday September 14th: Pinergy electricity prices up 7.6 per cent.
- Tuesday September 15th to Thursday 17th: National Ploughing Championships, Screggan, Co. Offaly.
- September: SOLAS Phase 4 and 6 repeat exams, no fees. Confirm your apprentice's dates.
- Thursday October 1st: CRU network charges up €41.25 a year. The excise step that was due this day is cancelled.
- Tuesday October 6th: Budget 2027.
- Sunday October 25th: Clocks go back.
- Every Wednesday: The Spark lands in your inbox.
That's it for this week. Skip the pump queue on Monday, get the September cable ordered before copper runs again, and start asking the front door question at every handover. Trade counter is open Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm.
The Shamrock Electrical Team
Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin
01 401 9907 | sales@shamrockelectrical.ie
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📖 Previous Issues
- Issue 025: The eclipse rattles the grid, construction PMI back to growth, copper near record, schools are back
- Issue 024: Diesel up 19 cent, the excise schedule, wind power dumped by the grid, bulkhead lights
- Issue 023: New opening hours, construction output figures, periodic inspection paperwork, wall lights
- Issue 022: RFE equipped distribution boards land at Shamrock, the fuel cost cliff, punch-list management
About Shamrock Electrical Supplies
Shamrock Electrical Supplies is an electrical wholesaler and retailer based in Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. We supply professional electrical contractors and homeowners across Ireland.
Contractors who open a trade account get competitive trade pricing, reliable stock availability, and a team that knows what they are talking about.
Find Us
Shamrock Electrical Supplies
Unit 22, Block 613, Jordanstown Road
Greenogue Business Park
Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, D24 TX98
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7am to 5pm
Saturday: 9am to 1pm
Sunday: Closed
Get in Touch
📞 01 401 9907
✉️ sales@shamrockelectrical.ie
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