The Government will announce its fuel support scheme later this morning.
The measures – which are aimed at the agriculture, quarries, haulage, construction and fisheries sectors – were drawn up in response to the recent fuel protests.
It is understood the scheme will be open for applications from mid May – with payments to follow soon thereafter.
Those driving vehicles on quarries or construction sites may have to wait a little longer as they were only added to the scheme after a meeting of Government leaders on Monday night.
Under the fuel support scheme up to 120,000 farmers and 1,500 full-time agricultural contractors will receive financial aid.
Combined with the earlier excise cuts, the package will result in an effective reduction of €274 in the purchase of 1,000 litres of green diesel.
The payments will cover the months of March up to the end of July.
The Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and the Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien will outline more details at a press conference at Government Buildings.
It is understood the transport side of the package amounts to €120 million over three months.
Rural backbench TDs are waiting to see the finer details of the scheme for fear some people might find themselves unfairly excluded or find it overly bureaucratic.
Minister Heydon and Minister O’Brien will also brief TDs later this morning.
The Irish Road Haulage Association has welcomed the Government fuel supports – but the Coalition will be closely monitoring the reaction from other groups.
The €500 million package was announced in reaction to the large-scale protests and blockades of three weeks ago – with Opposition parties accusing the Government of simply trying to reannounce the measures it agreed a fortnight ago.
The Government will hope today’s measures may allow it to get to October’s Budget without introducing any further fresh supports in response to the fuel crisis.
However, Opposition parties are likely to reiterate their calls for emergency budgetary measures for households and workers when the Taoiseach returns to the Dáil for Leaders’ Questions later.