Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has strongly hinted that excise cuts on petrol and diesel will be extended in the Budget.
Mr Chambers was speaking during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil where he pledged that Bugdet 2027 would help working people and specifically address the cost of home heating oil.
“We’ve been clear that is a specific consideration in our tax policy measures, and that will be considered as well as the deferral of excise on petrol and diesel,” he said.
“Less than two weeks to Budget day, what will Government do to get costs under control?” Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald asked.
“Price hikes mean that households will have to fork out an additional €1,000 this winter.
“And seven out of ten young people are now considering leaving this country because they can’t live affordably here,” the Dublin Central TD told the house.
Dáil hears call to help ‘people in their hour of need’
The Government must look after people “in their hour of need”, the Dáil heard, as another motion calling for additional fuel supports was tabled.
The Independent Technical Group motion on energy and fuel costs calls for stronger government action to shield households, motorists and businesses from rising fuel and energy prices.
It follows a similar motion from Sinn Féin yesterday.
Noting supports which have already been introduced, Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice said that “any money is welcome” but argued that more is needed to avoid dire consequences in agriculture and farming.
Additional carbon taxes on fertiliser mandated by the EU “has driven the price of it mad”, he said, and urged that more money be found to tackle this, as he said that the “paltry” sums offered by the EU are insufficient.
Michael Fitzmaurice said people around the country are ‘hurting’
“This isn’t politics. This about people right around our country who are hurting at the moment.
“People afraid to turn on the heat. People afriad to turn on the light. That’s not the Ireland that you and I would sign up to,” he said.
The motion advocates extending fuel cost supports and other cost-of-living measures, arguing that international energy market pressures continue to affect consumers.
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Niall Collins said the motion failed to grasp the realities which are driving cost rises.
He defended the carbon tax, saying that it has a key role to play in moving away from fossil fuel dependence and Ireland must meet EU commitments in how the carbon tax operates if it wants to retain control over how revenues are used.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said that “people power” has forced the Government to change its approach as “they could not take any more” and took to the streets.
He said that the next steps in that campaign are now being examined, and highlighted his party’s support for those efforts.