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LAST UPDATE
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IF FUEL PRICES rise significantly into the autumn, the government would have to consider the planned incremental excise increases, according to Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the minister said the current position, as it stands, is for the excise cuts to be unwound, starting in September.<\/p>\n
A phased restoration of the full excise duty on fuel prices will be gradually reintroduced by December.<\/p>\n
For petrol, this includes a nine cent increase per litre on 1 September, an eight cent increase per litre on 1 October, a five cent increase per litre on 1 November, and a five cent increase per litre on 1 December.<\/p>\n
For diesel, it involves a 10 cent increase per litre on 1 September, an eight cent increase per litre on 1 October, a seven cent increase per litre on 1 November, and a final seven cent increase per litre on 1 December.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At Government Buildings on Wednesday, Chambers was asked about the latest fuel price analysis which shows diesel prices are falling, but petrol prices have increased.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Price volatility\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe price dynamics are highly volatile,\u201d said the minister.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is, we\u2019ll assess that in early September. We\u2019ve said we\u2019ll keep the wider position under review. In parallel with that, we saw a significant fall-off in prices. There appears to be a move towards some sort of agreement [between the US and Iran] which could stabilise or reduce prices, and it might fall back quite significantly by the end of August,\u201d said Chambers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly, if prices significantly rise, we will have to consider that in the autumn,\u201d he added, but the current plan to unwind the excise cuts remains in place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t have permanent reductions in excise indefinitely, but we are cognisant of the volatility of price dynamics, and we\u2019ll assess that at the time,\u201d said Chambers.<\/p>\n
On Budget 2027, which will be on 6 October, the public expenditure minister said the government wanted to \u201creward work and support workers\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said they would be due to spend \u20ac125 billion next year, but said it was important that they \u201cprioritise reform for better public service delivery\u201d and \u201ckeep the focus\u201d on building housing and public infrastructure.<\/p>\n
He said there would be a surplus of up to \u20ac9 billion and \u20ac24 billion would be set aside for two long-term savings funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re slowing it on day-to-day spending, and that\u2019s for two or three reasons, first of all, to manage the risk which is there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not agree to a budgetary framework which risks Ireland\u2019s future, and I think people expect us in managing their taxpayers\u2019 money to be very careful in the decisions that we make.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people expect us in managing their taxpayers\u2019 money to be very careful in the decisions that we make, that we don\u2019t have expansion at a time when there\u2019s risk, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re slowing the level of spend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Industry response<\/p>\n
Fuels for Ireland, which represents fuel importers and distributors, welcomed Chambers\u2019 comments that the government would keep the excise increases under review if prices rise.<\/p>\n
In a statement this afternoon, Fuels for Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartlan said wholesale fuel prices had stabilised in recent weeks, but \u201cunfortunately they have stabilised at a very high level\u201d, leaving motorists, businesses and households under continued pressure.<\/p>\n
He said consumers also face further government-imposed costs in the coming months, including the restoration of the full NORA levy, a planned carbon tax increase and higher renewable fuel obligations from January.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf international commodity prices remain around their current levels, these measures could push the price of diesel back above \u20ac2 per litre at the start of 2027,\u201d McPartlan said.<\/p>\n
He reiterated the organisation\u2019s call for an independent expert group to examine the cumulative impact of taxes, levies and regulatory costs on fuel prices, and urged the government to engage directly with the industry.<\/p>\n
With reporting by Press Association<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAST UPDATE | 2 hrs ago IF FUEL PRICES rise significantly into the autumn, the government would have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,63461,9658,159541,61,11829,60,13808,63462,812],"class_list":["post-584253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-diesel","tag-fuel","tag-fuel-costs","tag-ie","tag-iran","tag-ireland","tag-jack-chambers","tag-petrol","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584253","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=584253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}