Government to cut petrol and diesel by 10c and defer carbon tax increase in €505m package

LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago

GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED a mammoth fuel support package – costed at over half a billion euro – after six days of protests against fuel costs.

It hopes the measures announced today will put an end to protests before schools return tomorrow. 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris, and Minister of State Sean Canney outlined the package to media at Government buildings upon the conclusion of an emergency Cabinet meeting.

Speaking this evening, Martin once again condemned the blockades formed as part of the nationwide protests. He said it was clear that some of those protesting “explicitly rejected the right of democratic representative groups to speak for them, and have gone well beyond expressing their point.”

He said the new fuel package will:

• extend the temporary measures to reduce excise duty on petrol, diesel and marked gas oil (green diesel) from the end of May to the end of July
• reduce mineral oil taxes by 10c a litre on diesel and petrol, and 2.4c per litre on green diesel
• postpone the increase in carbon tax from May until the budget in October
• enhance transport support supply schemes for all haulage operators in the country, for local link, school transport providers, and some commercial operators
• introduce a fuel subsidy support scheme for farming and fisheries 

These measures will come into effect from midnight on Tuesday. Further targeted measures for the agri-food sector will be announced later.

The package will cost over half a billion euro, with the Taoiseach saying it’s costed at €505m. The package announced today will run in tandem with a previous €250 package announced last month.

The cut to excise duty required approval from the European Commission.

“The government recognises and understands the pressures that have arisen due to rising fuel costs as a result of war in Ukraine and in the Middle East on all families and businesses,” the Taoiseach said.

He said the package is a “significant response to real pressures being felt here and globally”.

The expenditure in this new package will impact the budget in October, Martin confirmed, although he acknowledged pressures on sectors and families and the need for immediate action on fuel costs.

The announcement of the package follows engagement with representative groups for transport, farming, and fisheries. 

Answering questions from media following the announcement, the Taoiseach took aim at several members of the Opposition – singling out Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín and Sinn Féin – saying they were acting as “marshals to determine who gets oil and who doesn’t get oil” due to their support for the protests and blockades.

“Those people are not fit for government if that is their approach to the Constitution and the parliamentary democratic system,” he said.

The Taoiseach added that he feels there was a lack of awareness of the gravity of the situation facing the country when the oil refinery blockade.

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“I mean, it’s beyond comprehension that we were on the precipice of losing refining capacity in the country in the middle of an unprecedented global supply shortage of energy,” said Martin.

Asked about Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan’s announcement earlier in the week that the Defence Forces would be drafted in to remove protesters, the Taoiseach said:

“It was the correct decision, the correct announcement.”

Martin went on to say “to be fair, many people accepted the gardaí intervention. And I would say there was many different people involved in the protest, many, quite a number, of genuine people involved, no question. But equally, there were elements there that were there to make trouble”.

Sinn Féin said earlier today it would be tabling a motion of no confidence in the Government over its handling of the protests. The majority of Opposition parties have agreed to support the motion.

Participants – largely led by hauliers, farmers, and agricultural workers – began separate but coordinated actions on Tuesday with slow-moving convoys and outright stoppages on major motorways, as well as the blockades of critical infrastructure.

A meeting was held with the representative groups on Friday to discuss action, which saw public uproar when four organisers of the protests were turned away at the door due to their names not being on the list to attend.

Today, Martin said, “We did not engage with the protesters, and certainly we’re not engaging with protesters until the blockade was lifted”.

He and the Tánaiste reiterated several times that they engaged with official representative groups and not with what was described as the “self-appointed leaders” of protests and blockades nationwide.

Opposition reaction to fuel package 

Following the announcement that the carbon tax increase in May is to be deferred until October’s budget, Green Party Leader Roderic O’Gorman said government must clarify what impact it will have on retrofit and social protection budgets. 

Martin said during the press conference this evening that the deferment would not have any material impact on the retrofit budget, stating that government will maintain the expenditure levels for the scheme. 

Meanwhile, the Labour Party has welcomed the package, but said the government has abandoned PAYE workers in the process.

“The chaos of the last few days has seen this government’s authority drain away. The basic competence of individual Ministers and this administration is now very much in question,” said Labour TD Ged Nash.

“This is reason enough for Labour to support a planned motion of no confidence in this government,” he added.

“There is little or nothing in this package for the low and middle-income workers who have no option other than to pay their tax from pay packets that are under increasing pressure from rising energy bills, skyrocketing grocery prices and escalating housing costs,” said Nash.

With reporting by Christina Finn

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