12.15pm: Kevin McPartlan, chief executive of Fuels for Ireland, said that excise cuts for petrol and diesel will not feed through immediately at forecourts around the country.
“We understand that motorists will expect to see the excise reduction reflected at the pump as quickly as possible,” Mr McPartlan said.
“It is important to say that this may not happen at every forecourt immediately, and that should not be misunderstood as a failure to pass on the tax cut.
“The reason is practical. Excise is applied when fuel leaves a terminal or refinery, not when it is sold at the pump.
“In recent days, the industry has been operating under disrupted conditions, and the priority has been to keep fuel moving and forecourts supplied where possible. As a result, some of the fuel arriving at sites in the immediate aftermath of the change will still have left facilities at the old excise rate.”
Mr McPartlan said it may take between 48 and 72 hours to feed through excise cuts to consumers, saying the “overwhelming majority” would be passed through by the weekend.
The Government is due to pass the excise cuts via financial resolution later this evening, with 10c cuts to petrol and diesel and 2.4c cut to green diesel.
12pm: The confidence motion in Government is an “acid test” for independents, People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett said at Leinster House.
He said People Before Profit-Solidarity would vote against the Government.
“We take today as an acid test for some independents, as to whether they are genuinely independent and standing on the side of ordinary people in this country, or whether they are Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, in disguise, as quite a few of them have shown themselves to be.”
11.40am: On his way into Government Buildings this morning, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said some learnings can be taken from last week’s protests.
However, he said there was an “absolute obligation” on the Government to get critical infrastructure reopened, including Whitegate oil refinery in East Cork and ports.
“We export about 90% of everything we make in this country. So the ports are the lifeblood of the economy, and if the ports were blockaded for any length of time, people would have lost jobs, people would have been put on part-time, production would have ceased.
“It would have been very serious. That’s the balance here.”
Mr Martin said the Government supports people’s rights to protest, but insisted there needs to be a distinction made between “the blockading of absolutely critical national infrastructure and protest”.
The Taoiseach also pushed back on comments by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), which told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland there is a “hierarchy of rights” in the country.
“It seems that if you shout the loudest, you succeed,” Owen Reidy said.
The Taoiseach said it wasn’t fair criticism from the trade union body.
“I’ve been a strong advocate for an enhanced form of social partnership, and I’m open to enhancing social partnership as a means to navigating the current international crisis and the succession of international crises that we’ve had to deal with, from covid to Ukraine to the tariffs and now to the war in the Middle East,” Mr Martin said.
11.30am: Tánaiste Simon Harris has distanced himself from comments made by media minister Patrick O’Donovan on Monday, suggesting that RTÉ’s coverage of the blockades needed to be reviewed.
Mr O’Donovan suggested he would ask Coimisiún na Meán to review whether the coverage had been balanced. The comments were criticised by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which branded them “sinister and deeply disturbing”.
On his way into Cabinet, Mr Harris dismissed the suggestion.
“I’m a big supporter of freedom of the media, freedom of the press, as is the government, as is the minister.
“In fact, Minister Patrick O’Donovan will be bringing forward legislative change later this year to further underpin the importance of freedom of the media, in line with a number of European developments.
“Free media, a robust media, is an absolute, vital part of our democracy.
“Of course, at the end of any difficult period, you can look back and say, ‘At a moment of national crisis, how do we get information out there? Are there learnings?’
“But I certainly don’t think there’s any need for any sort of formal review. These are matters for Coimisiún na Meán. We have, in this country, a free media. We have a robust media, and I think we have a fair media.”
11.20am: A spokesperson for Tánaiste Simon Harris has confirmed that he will not travel to Washington DC this week.
The finance minister was expected in the US capital this week for International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings.
11.10am: Regional Independent TDs and ministers are meeting this morning, with one source saying there is “serious pressure” being placed on Danny Healy-Rae to back the Government in its confidence motion this afternoon.
On Monday, there was some concern in Kerry that Michael Healy-Rae’s junior ministerial role could be in danger if Danny voted against the Government in the confidence motion.
One source said Danny had gone “out on his own” in his criticism of the Government over the fuel protests, describing the commentary as “not helping”.
Danny Healy-Rae called for both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to step down, saying there needed to be a change of leadership at the top of Government.
One senior Government source said it would be more of an issue if Michael Healy-Rae votes against the Coalition, given his position as a junior minister.
10am: Independent TD Barry Heneghan has told the Irish Examiner that he will vote confidence in the government.
He says this is because “we need a functioning government, particularly at the moment of global insecurity, for any financial measures to come we need a functioning government”.
“Also the private wires legislation I am working on at the moment to reduce loss of renewables across Ireland can’t be done without one.”
The Government is set to defeat a no-confidence motion over its handling of the fuel crisis today, and will immediately look to pass its €505m support package in a bid to quell public anger over spiralling costs.
Barriers will be erected outside Leinster House in anticipation of further protests as TDs return to the Dáil after an Easter break dominated by blockades and fuel shortages.
While the Government is expected to win the no-confidence motion, some Independent TDs have declined to say how they will vote.
Independents Gillian Toole and Danny Healy-Rae have not said if they will back the Government.
Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae, whose brother Michael is a junior minister, has repeatedly criticised Taoiseach Micheál Martin, calling him “arrogant”, and called for a change of leadership at the top of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Asked if he would back the Government, Mr Healy-Rae said he would first engage with his supporters before coming to a decision.
A tumultuous week of protests and blockades was met with a Government announcement of a further €505m of supports, on top of the €250m in excise cuts announced last month.
If voted through, the package will see a planned rise in carbon tax deferred to October and extension of the excise duty cut to June, a further 10c reduction on petrol and diesel, and 2.4c on green diesel from midnight, along with a fuel subsidy for farming and fisheries.
The opposition has criticised the package as not going far enough to alleviate the fuel price spikes caused by the US-Israel war with Iran.
The vote comes amid growing tensions in Government amid suggestions that Fine Gael — and defence minister Helen McEntee in particular — are trying to throw justice minister Jim O’Callaghan “under the bus”.
Some in Fianna Fáil believe Fine Gael is trying to blame Mr O’Callaghan for stoking public anger by involving the Defence Forces following reports Ms McEntee was unhappy she was not consulted beforehand.
Earlier, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly thanked gardaí for their actions during the protests and criticised the online abuse faced by some gardaí.
Mr Kelly said he was “absolutely appalled” by the attempts to identify and abuse individual gardaí amid policing operations carried out to maintain public order during the fuel protests. He said:
This will not be tolerated and will be fully investigated with the aim of bringing those involved to justice.
Fuels For Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartlan said that fuel truck drivers have also been targeted with similar abuse.
The Dáil vote comes as the US confirmed a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz had begun while talks with Iran stalled. Blocking the strait will further disrupt the flow of oil into the international market.
US president Donald Trump said talks with Iran had hit a roadblock related to nuclear issues and confirmed the “blockade” of ships was under way.
He said that Iran had “called this morning” and that “they’d like to work a deal” but he added: “We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world.”
Although oil prices lingered slightly under 0 per barrel yesterday, US stocks remained steady, suggesting that traders think there could be hope for a diplomatic solution that would stave off chaos for the global economy.
Energy markets remained more jittery as crude oil increased more than 4%, but that was a less intense shift than markets have seen since the war broke out in late February.