worsening fuel crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\nMinisters including Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin, T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris, Transport Minister Darragh O\u2019Brien, Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers and Minister of State at the Department of Transport Sean Canney will be in attendance. Speaking on Sunday, the T\u00e1naiste said they will be looking at the current situation \u201cin terms of energy supply and energy security\u201d.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understood that ministers will receive a briefing from the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) and there will be discussions about what other countries are doing. O\u2019Connell Street was brought to a standstill by noon yesterday with coaches, cars, lorries and tractors parked on the capital\u2019s main thoroughfare.<\/p>\n
Agricultural contractor Gary Leonard said he had travelled with a convoy of around 80 from Navan in County Meath to O\u2019Connell Street. He said he believes carbon tax and excise duty should be removed from diesel.<\/p>\n
He said this time last year, it cost \u20ac250 to fill an \u201cordinary middle-sized tractor\u201d, but it now costs \u20ac450. Mr Leonard said it took the convoy around four hours to reach Dublin and the reaction on the way was \u201cunbelievable\u201d, adding: \u201cThe solidarity is really, really showing today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old said prices mean it is \u201cgetting hard to make a living\u201d, despite working full time, adding it is \u201cnearly impossible\u201d to \u201cget on in life\u201d in Ireland. John Dallon travelled with a convoy from County Kildare, and said: \u201cWe\u2019re calling on the Government to save our economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the Government does not take us seriously, the economy will come to a halt, it\u2019ll just stop running, because the people just will not be able to afford fuel. I can see this being a bigger collapse than back in the Celtic Tiger.\u201d<\/p>\n
The farmer said it is not just the agriculture industry that is affected, haulage and construction sectors are also under \u201cserious pressure\u201d. The demonstration is \u201cnot just for the people in business\u201d, he added, \u201cbut for the whole community of Ireland\u201d.<\/p>\n
He outlined a number of measures the protesters want to see put in place, including a cap on white diesel at 165 or 175 cents per litre and a cap on green diesel at 90 cents, and the abolition of the carbon tax and excise duty. In a statement released ahead of a planned rally on O\u2019Connell Street, Aontu leader Peadar Toibin called for a carbon tax cut.<\/p>\n
He said the Government is \u201cthe key driver\u201d of high prices for fuel in Ireland and it is \u201ccharging a tax on a staple product that people simply do not have the ability to pay\u201d. Ger Hyland, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, said the organisation is not involved in the protest.<\/p>\n
When pressed, Mr Hyland refused to say whether he supports the protest and said while the association is at the table trying to negotiate a deal with the Government he would not give an answer. He said he \u201cempathised\u201d with demonstrators, adding members of his organisation were \u201cprobably\u201d involved and that \u201cit\u2019s up to every individual haulier himself to do as he sees fit for his company\u201d.<\/p>\n
The IRHA met with Minister O\u2019Brien and Minister Canney last Friday. A spokesperson for the Transport Minister said further work is being undertaken between the department and the IRHA, and they remain in regular contact.<\/p>\n
They added: \u201cRecognising energy affordability is currently the most pressing issue facing the country, the Government is firmly committed to supporting households and businesses with rising fuel and energy costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far, we have allocated \u20ac250 million in targeted supports to assist those experiencing real and immediate financial pressure – one of the most substantial measures introduced anywhere in the EU – including excise reductions on diesel and petrol, and an enhancement of the Diesel Rebate Scheme for licenced hauliers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cabinet will not sit today but a meeting will take place this morning to discuss the worsening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[580,42614,119063,61,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-387545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-energy","9":"tag-energy-bills","10":"tag-fuel-poverty","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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