{"id":395407,"date":"2026-04-12T23:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T23:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/395407\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T23:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T23:27:12","slug":"irish-government-trebles-aid-to-quell-anger-over-rising-fuel-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/395407\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Government trebles aid to quell anger over rising fuel costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Irish Government has trebled the size of its package of supports\u00a0in a bid to quell fuel cost protests which saw blockades of critical infrastructure across the country.<\/p>\n

The \u20ac505m in additional measures follows, and extends, last month\u2019s initial \u20ac250m package in response to rising fuel costs.<\/p>\n

Excise cuts of 10 cent on petrol and diesel, a delay in a planned increase of a carbon tax until the budget in October, 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

Miche\u00e1l Martin, the Taoiseach, 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 said measures will be paid for by the existing national budget surplus, but added that every item of spending would have consequences on Budget 2027.<\/p>\n

\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 he added.<\/p>\n

\"TaoiseachTaoiseach Micheal Martin speaking to the media in The Courtyard at Government Buildings, Dublin ahead of a meeting on fuel prices.Brian Lawless\/PA<\/p>\n

Earlier, it emerged the country faces up to 10 days of ongoing fuel shortages in some areas in the aftermath of widespread protests and blockades across the country led by independent farmers, hauliers and agricultural contractors which brought much of the country to a standstill for five days.<\/p>\n

Kevin McPartlan, CEO of Fuels for Ireland, said the forecourts without fuel will mostly be concentrated on the west coast and south of the country, but efforts to restock were underway.<\/p>\n

Blockades at several key areas were cleared on Sunday as the protest campaign against the rising cost of petrol and diesel entered its sixth day.<\/p>\n

The Garda Public Order Unit cleared Dublin\u2019s O\u2019Connell Steet at 4am on Sunday morning, while a protest at Galway Port was also dispersed around 8am. Campaigners stood down a blockade at Foynes in Co Limerick at 1pm. The cabinet met on Sunday night, before announcing the new energy support package.<\/p>\n

\"TractorsTractors blocking the road at Junction 7 on the M50 in Dublin on Friday. Photocall Ireland<\/p>\n

Simon Harris, the Tanaiste and Finance Minister, said the developments show why the Government runs \u201can economy that gives us fiscal buffers\u201d and a \u201csurplus\u201d.<\/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

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

McPartlan earlier warned that although every effort is being made to maximise deliveries, the recovery will \u201chappen in stages, not all at once\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe priority now is to restore a reliable national distribution as quickly and safely as possible,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The government is facing intense criticism over its handling of the blockade<\/a> by a network of farmers, hauliers and contractors, who have caused widespread chaos by blocking off roads and access points to critical infrastructure. Sinn Fein announced on Sunday that it will table a motion of no confidence.<\/p>\n

\"TractorsTractors blocked the road at junction 7 on the M50 in Dublin on SaturdayPhotocall Ireland<\/p>\n

Martin and Harris defended the Government\u2019s decision to exclude protesters from talks with established representative organisations.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

\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

The Defence Forces were called in on Saturday to Whitegate in Co Cork to help gardai break up a blockade of the country\u2019s only oil refinery, and \u00adseveral arrests were made.<\/p>\n

Justin Kelly, the garda commissioner, warned on Saturday night that officers would use force \u201cup to the level that\u2019s necessary\u201d in further operations at key sites. <\/p>\n

He said he wanted to send a message \u201cthat we will not tolerate this any longer\u201d. An \u201cexceptional event\u201d was declared by garda management last Friday, allowing the force to bolster staffing. A water cannon was spotted at Garda HQ in Phoenix Park on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\"GardaWater cannon spotted at Garda HQ in Phoenix Park on Saturday nightTimes Media Ltd<\/p>\n

Martin is said to have requested that oil companies do everything in their power to ensure pending deliveries are not rejected during the five day standoff.<\/p>\n

The government refused to meet the activists, and on Saturday ordered gardai to begin making arrests and removing vehicles used in the blockades<\/a>. The move appears to have acted as a catalyst encouraging more people to join the movement, but most of these faded away on Sunday when it was made clear the gardai were cracking down on disruption.<\/p>\n

Sinn Fein finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said the government\u2019s new measures \u201cfall far short\u201d of what is required, stating that it should have gone further on petrol and diesel cuts and scrapped excise on home heating oil.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey only moved because of public pressure \u2013 and even then, they fell short,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pressure must now intensify. We will bring forward our motion of no confidence in the government this week.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Irish Government has trebled the size of its package of supports\u00a0in a bid to quell fuel cost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-395407","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\/395407","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=395407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}