Details of fuel support scheme to be announced by ministers this morning

THE DETAILS OF government’s €100m Fuel Support Scheme and the €120m Road Transporters Scheme are to be announced later this morning.

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien will make the announcement at Government Buildings.

Cabinet yesterday signed off on the details of the Fuel Support Subsidy Scheme for farmers, farm contractors and fisheries.

Construction contractors and quarry truck drivers will also be covered by the new scheme, a move first reported by The Journal, which is expected to be finalised in the coming days.

Under the €100m scheme, payments will be made to businesses from March to July of this year in an effort to shield businesses most exposed to the increased cost of fuel since the start of Israel and the US’s war on Iran.

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Approximately 120,000 farmers and 1,500 full-time agricultural contractors are eligible to receive payments through the scheme, with funding allocated based on fuel usage last year.

Related to this, Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien also brought details of the support scheme for hauliers to Cabinet for sign-off.

The Road Transporters Support Scheme (RTSS) will be open to licensed road haulage operators and licensed passenger operators.

Under the scheme, supports will also be provided to the operators of TFI Local Link services under contract with the National Transport Authority (NTA), school transport services through the Department of Education and Youth and for transport services to the Islands by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht.

The Department estimates that 25,700 licensed haulage vehicles, 12,400 other haulage vehicles and 11,900 licensed passenger vehicles may be eligible for the scheme.

Both schemes were signed off by the government after protests by farmers and hauliers almost brought the country to a standstill earlier this month.

The government’s fuel price supports were welcomed by hauliers. 

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