{"id":395375,"date":"2026-04-12T22:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T22:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/395375\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T22:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T22:50:13","slug":"government-to-undertake-fundamental-security-review-after-fuel-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/395375\/","title":{"rendered":"Government to undertake \u2018fundamental security review\u2019 after fuel protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

The leadership of the Irish Government has hit out at fuel-cost protesters who staged blockades of critical infrastructure across the country, as it tripled the size of its package of supports.<\/p>\n

The 505 million euro in additional measures comes on top of and extends some of last month\u2019s 250 million euro package in response to fuel costs.<\/p>\n

Excise cuts on fuel, a delay in a planned increase of a carbon tax, and payments to affected industries \u2013 in which most of the protesters worked \u2013 were all announced as part of the response to the fuel crisis that emerged as a result of the war in Iran.<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the Government would undertake a \u201cfundamental security review\u201d after protests which \u201cnearly calamitously endangered oil supply in the country\u201d by blockading critical infrastructure, including Ireland\u2019s only oil refinery.<\/p>\n

He told reporters on Sunday that the measures will be paid for by the existing surplus, but added that every item of spending would have consequences on Budget 2027.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThat is of concern as we announce these packages, but it has to be balanced with the fact there is undoubted pressure on people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressed on whether this would mean running a smaller surplus, Mr Martin said it would depend on revenue and expenditure trends but conceded it would be larger without the announced measures.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cBut we are facing an unprecedented crisis globally. If this war continues, volatility continues, that is something of concern to us in terms of the broader range of public services and expenditure we have to provide for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon Harris, the country\u2019s deputy premier and Finance Minister, said the developments are why the Government runs \u201can economy that gives us fiscal buffers\u201d and a \u201csurplus\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Mr Martin denied that the bumper payments to the agricultural and transport sectors showed that the protest worked.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach said the Government had worked with representative bodies, describing the blockaders as \u201cnot working in the best interests of the Irish people\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Harris said \u201cwhat worked is the engagement\u201d with representative bodies.<\/p>\n

On the protesters, he said there \u201cwere extraordinarily frightening scenes\u201d when one spokesman suggested that \u201cwardens\u201d would access the medical needs of people attempting to pass blockades.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said the whole world had been coping with a \u201cdramatic and unexpected increase\u201d in oil prices \u2013 as well as oil shortages \u2013 as a result of the war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

He added that recent developments \u2013 which have included US president Donald Trump calling for a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and a breakdown of a ceasefire \u2013 were \u201cvery volatile\u201d and \u201cnot reassuring\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Government defended its choice to exclude protesters from talks with established representative organisations.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The protesters began action on Tuesday and the last blockades were not cleared until Sunday.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said Government would review the \u201clatitude\u201d given to protesters in the early stages \u201cin terms of the overall security situation of the State\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach said nobody had a right to blockade the country, prevent the normal operation of emergency services, delay people going for cancer treatment, or to threaten the jobs and livelihoods of others.<\/p>\n

He said the targeting of ports and depots represented a \u201cdirect threat to basic supplies\u201d and would have impacted on every business and job in the country if not addressed.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cNo-one should deny the fundamental right of freedom of mobility, of people, goods or services.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe right to protest is important and critical, but it cannot operate with no limits and without any consideration of its impact on wider society and economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Harris agreed, stating that Government could not be \u201cexpected to reasonably or rationally engage with self-appointed spokespeople of unelected bodies\u201d and \u201cthose who would instigate an illegal blockade of some of this country\u2019s most critical infrastructure at a time of a global energy crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the recent protests had been \u201cextremely concerning\u201d and \u201cprofoundly damaging\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Asked about the response to clearing blockades which saw the use of pepper spray and some physical confrontations with protesters, Mr Martin said the police service An Garda Siochana gave \u201cplenty of warning\u201d and added that there would be no toleration of any attempts to restrict freedom of movement of people and goods.<\/p>\n

He said there was an \u201cillogicality\u201d of the protest as it had endangered jobs and businesses.<\/p>\n

The Government is also \u201cseeking flexibility\u201d from the European Union on the measures as it has gone below rules on minimum rates for diesel.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The reductions of excise duty will need approval of the country\u2019s parliament \u2013 which is also due to vote on a motion of no confidence in the Government that will be brought by the largest opposition party in the country Sinn Fein in criticism of the coalition\u2019s handling of the crisis.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin claimed that some TDs supporting a no-confidence vote were in agreement with the people blockading critical infrastructure and therefore \u201cnot fit for Government\u201d.<\/p>\n

Minister of State Sean Canney, who represents non-party TDs who supported Mr Martin\u2019s Fianna Fail and Mr Harris\u2019 Fine Gael in forming a coalition, said he could confirm that his fellow Government-aligned independents would express confidence in the vote.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWe\u2019re not in Government just for the fun of it. We\u2019re here to make a difference and to make sure that this Government, which is working well coherently, continues to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Sinn Fein finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said the measures \u201cfall far short\u201d, stating that it should have gone further on petrol and diesel cuts and scrapped excise on home heating oil.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThey only moved because of public pressure \u2013 and even then, they fell short.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pressure must now intensify. We will bring forward our motion of no confidence in the government this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Social Democrats said it would support the Sinn Fein motion, stating that the Government measures \u201cdo not address wider cost of living challenges\u201d.<\/p>\n

Deputy leader Cian O\u2019Callaghan said the Government failed to do anything to address \u201cskyrocketing\u201d costs of home heating oil which 700,000 households use.<\/p>\n

It sought a targeted 400 euro energy credit and a mileage scheme for essential workers.<\/p>\n

Labour finance spokesman Ged Nash said the Government was providing little comfort to workers while \u201cbuying off\u201d what he described as \u201cnarrow sectoral interests\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the Government had \u201creal explaining to do\u201d for 320,000 households in arrears on energy bills.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe chaos of the last few days has seen this Government\u2019s authority drain away. The basic competence of individual ministers and this administration is now very much in question.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is reason enough for Labour to support a planned motion of no confidence in this government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aontu leader Peadar Toibin said Government was in \u201cdamage-limitation\u201d mode, describing the handling of protests as a \u201cfiasco factory\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The leadership of the Irish Government has hit out at fuel-cost protesters who staged blockades of critical infrastructure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-395375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395375","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=395375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}