\n 12.15pm: Kevin McPartlan, chief executive of Fuels for Ireland, said that excise cuts for petrol and diesel will not feed through immediately at forecourts around the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand that motorists will expect to see the excise reduction reflected at the pump as quickly as possible,\u201d Mr McPartlan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important to say that this may not happen at every forecourt immediately, and that should not be misunderstood as a failure to pass on the tax cut.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason is practical. Excise is applied when fuel leaves a terminal or refinery, not when it is sold at the pump.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn recent days, the industry has been operating under disrupted conditions, and the priority has been to keep fuel moving and forecourts supplied where possible. As a result, some of the fuel arriving at sites in the immediate aftermath of the change will still have left facilities at the old excise rate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr McPartlan said it may take between 48 and 72 hours to feed through excise cuts to consumers, saying the \u201coverwhelming majority\u201d would be passed through by the weekend.<\/p>\n
The Government is due to pass the excise cuts via financial resolution later this evening, with 10c cuts to petrol and diesel and 2.4c cut to green diesel.<\/p>\n
\n 12pm: The confidence motion in Government is an \u201cacid test\u201d for independents, People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett said at Leinster House.<\/p>\n
He said People Before Profit-Solidarity would vote against the Government.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take today as an acid test for some independents, as to whether they are genuinely independent and standing on the side of ordinary people in this country, or whether they are Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, in disguise, as quite a few of them have shown themselves to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n 11.40am: On his way into Government Buildings this morning, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin said some learnings can be taken from last week\u2019s protests.<\/p>\n
However, he said there was an \u201cabsolute obligation\u201d on the Government to get critical infrastructure reopened, including Whitegate oil refinery in East Cork and ports.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe export about 90% of everything we make in this country. So the ports are the lifeblood of the economy, and if the ports were blockaded for any length of time, people would have lost jobs, people would have been put on part-time, production would have ceased.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would have been very serious. That\u2019s the balance here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Martin said the Government supports people\u2019s rights to protest, but insisted there needs to be a distinction made between \u201cthe blockading of absolutely critical national infrastructure and protest\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Taoiseach also pushed back on comments by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), which told RT\u00c9 Radio’s Morning Ireland there is a \u201chierarchy of rights\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems that if you shout the loudest, you succeed,\u201d Owen Reidy said.<\/p>\n
The Taoiseach said it wasn\u2019t fair criticism from the trade union body.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve been a strong advocate for an enhanced form of social partnership, and I’m open to enhancing social partnership as a means to navigating the current international crisis and the succession of international crises that we’ve had to deal with, from covid to Ukraine to the tariffs and now to the war in the Middle East,\u201d Mr Martin said.<\/p>\n
\n 11.30am: T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris has distanced himself from comments made by media minister Patrick O\u2019Donovan on Monday, suggesting that RT\u00c9\u2019s coverage of the blockades needed to be reviewed.<\/p>\n
Mr O’Donovan suggested he would ask Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n to review whether the coverage had been balanced. The comments were criticised by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which branded them \u201csinister and deeply disturbing\u201d.<\/p>\n
On his way into Cabinet, Mr Harris dismissed the suggestion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m a big supporter of freedom of the media, freedom of the press, as is the government, as is the minister.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, Minister Patrick O’Donovan will be bringing forward legislative change later this year to further underpin the importance of freedom of the media, in line with a number of European developments.<\/p>\n
\u201cFree media, a robust media, is an absolute, vital part of our democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, at the end of any difficult period, you can look back and say, \u2018At a moment of national crisis, how do we get information out there? Are there learnings?\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I certainly don’t think there’s any need for any sort of formal review. These are matters for Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n. We have, in this country, a free media. We have a robust media, and I think we have a fair media.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n 11.20am:\u00a0A spokesperson for T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris has confirmed that he will not travel to Washington DC this week.<\/p>\n
The finance minister was expected in the US capital this week for International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings.<\/p>\n
\n 11.10am:\u00a0Regional Independent TDs and ministers are meeting this morning, with one source saying there is \u201cserious pressure\u201d being placed on Danny Healy-Rae to back the Government in its confidence motion this afternoon.<\/p>\n
On Monday, there was some concern in Kerry that Michael Healy-Rae\u2019s junior ministerial role could be in danger if Danny voted against the Government in the confidence motion.<\/p>\n
One source said Danny had gone \u201cout on his own\u201d in his criticism of the Government over the fuel protests, describing the commentary as \u201cnot helping\u201d.<\/p>\n
Danny Healy-Rae called for both the Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste to step down, saying there needed to be a change of leadership at the top of Government.<\/p>\n
One senior Government source said it would be more of an issue if Michael Healy-Rae votes against the Coalition, given his position as a junior minister.<\/p>\n
\n 10am: Independent TD Barry Heneghan has told the Irish Examiner that he will vote confidence in the government.<\/p>\n
He says this is because \u201cwe need a functioning government, particularly at the moment of global insecurity, for any financial measures to come we need a functioning government\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso the private wires legislation I am working on at the moment to reduce loss of renewables across Ireland can\u2019t be done without one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Government is set to defeat a no-confidence motion<\/a> over its handling of the fuel crisis today, and will immediately look to pass its \u20ac505m support package<\/a> in a bid to quell public anger over spiralling costs.<\/p>\n Barriers will be erected outside Leinster House in anticipation of further protests as TDs return to the D\u00e1il after an Easter break dominated by blockades and fuel shortages.<\/p>\n While the Government is expected to win the no-confidence motion, some Independent TDs have declined to say how they will vote<\/a>.<\/p>\n Independents Gillian Toole and Danny Healy-Rae have not said if they will back the Government.<\/p>\n Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae, whose brother Michael is a junior minister, has repeatedly criticised Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin, calling him \u201carrogant\u201d, and called for a change of leadership at the top of both Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael.<\/p>\n Asked if he would back the Government, Mr Healy-Rae said he would first engage with his supporters before coming to a decision.<\/p>\n A tumultuous week of protests and blockades<\/a> was met with a Government announcement of a further \u20ac505m of supports, on top of the \u20ac250m in excise cuts announced last month.<\/p>\n If voted through, the package will see a planned rise in carbon tax deferred to October and extension of the excise duty cut to June, a further 10c reduction on petrol and diesel, and 2.4c on green diesel from midnight, along with a fuel subsidy for farming and fisheries.<\/p>\n The opposition has criticised the package as not going far enough to alleviate the fuel price spikes caused by the US-Israel war with Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n The vote comes amid growing tensions in Government<\/a> amid suggestions that Fine Gael \u2014 and defence minister Helen McEntee in particular \u2014 are trying to throw justice minister Jim O\u2019Callaghan \u201cunder the bus\u201d.<\/p>\n Some in Fianna F\u00e1il believe Fine Gael is trying to blame Mr O\u2019Callaghan for stoking public anger by involving the Defence Forces following reports Ms McEntee was unhappy she was not consulted beforehand.<\/p>\n Earlier, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly<\/a> thanked garda\u00ed for their actions during the protests and criticised the online abuse faced by some garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n Mr Kelly said he was \u201cabsolutely appalled\u201d by the attempts to identify and abuse individual garda\u00ed amid policing operations carried out to maintain public order during the fuel protests. He said:\u00a0<\/p>\n \n This will not be tolerated and will be fully investigated with the aim of bringing those involved to justice.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n Fuels For Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartlan said that fuel truck drivers have also been targeted with similar abuse.<\/p>\n