Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has said the threat of further disruption from fuel protesters during Ireland’s hosting of the EU Presidency is wrong.
The Coalition is due to make a decision within the next 10 days on whether to extend cuts in excise duty on petrol, diesel and marked gas oil beyond the end of July.
The supports were introduced off the back of April’s fuel protests and blockades which ground the centre of Dublin and other parts of the country to a halt.
One of the national spokespeople for those demonstrations has suggested a fresh wave of action to coincide with the ending of the supports and Ireland’s hosting of the EU Presidency.
Speaking in Dublin, Mr Chambers said he thought threats of fresh protests were wrong and that protesters should not threaten critical infrastructure.
“I think it’s wrong that there’s such threats are being made.
“Government again engages with broad sectors of the economy and we’re listening to households in the context of the pressure that they’re under.
“But I think no protester should seek to threaten or undermine critical infrastructure across the State,” he said at the launch of a public consultation for future plans for the GPO.
“And we’ll take an informed view of price dynamics on the basis of our wider engagement with stakeholders.
“But threat of disruption is wrong, and people need to respect the wider apparatus of the State and the need to make decisions on this in the next 10 days.”
Jack Chambers said protesters should not threaten critical infrastructure
The Dublin West TD said the Government did not want to see a big rise in fuel prices over the summer as it considers whether or not to extend the excise cuts.
Speaking on his way into Cabinet, Tánaiste Simon Harris said critical infrastructure was blocked during the protests in April and that “lessons were learned” during that time.
When asked if he is concerned about fuel protests during the EU Presidency, Mr Harris said protest is a “perfectly legitimate thing in any democracy”.
However, he said “lawlessness is not part of our democracy”.
Govt to assess oil prices before deciding on extension
Speaking earlier, Mr Chambers said that the Government was assessing the price dynamics around how oil prices are changing following the recent agreement of a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran.
“But what we don’t want to see is a big upward increase in energy prices or in oil prices, which has an impact on consumers or on businesses.
“And it’s in that context which we’ll assess the decision on a further extension and we want to see a more smooth path of energy prices over the next number of months.
“So Government is very aware of the concerns of businesses and households, and that’s why we were correct to take the intervention that we made in terms of the reduction in excise.”
Mr Chambers said that the Govenment will assess what the “appropriate decision” is regarding excise duties in the next week or two.
“But we’re very aware of the concerns and the need to ensure that there isn’t any major increase in prices affecting people between end of July and the Budget.”