\u201cThe only certainty here, is the uncertainty,\u201d Cllr Damien Ryan said, referring to the escalating situation in Iran and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as he appealed for immediate Government intervention to curb the spike in prices.<\/p>\n
While welcoming measures that have already been introduced, including cuts to home heating oil, a four-week extension of the fuel allowance, and reductions in excise duty on diesel and petrol, Cllr Ryan said agricultural diesel had been overlooked.<\/p>\n
He warned that, although the country is not currently facing fuel rationing, there is still \u201chuge cause for concern\u201d about how the energy crisis could impact the agricultural sector, wider industry, and the economy at large.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we are dealing with a massive issue, we cannot leave this industry behind,\u201d he said. \u201cThe week before military action in Iran [began], agricultural diesel was 98c [per litre]. It is somewhere between \u20ac1.65 and \u20ac1.75 now.\u201d<\/p>\n
He highlighted the impact on vehicles operating in quarries and on construction sites across the country, warning that increased fuel costs would ultimately drive up prices for consumers and also have a knock-on effect on the councils\u2019 ability to deliver key projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be an intervention from the government to deal with the massive spike in agricultural diesel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Outlining the scale of the increases, he noted that while white diesel had risen from approximately \u20ac1.70 per litre to around \u20ac2.30, agricultural diesel had jumped from 98c to between \u20ac1.65 and \u20ac1.75 per litre.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe percentage increase is huge. There is only one person paying for that, and that is the customers and the consumers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He called for similar supports to those introduced for regular diesel and petrol to be extended to agricultural diesel, \u201cwhile we deal with what is a magnanimous issue\u201d.<\/p>\n
His motion calling on the Government to intervene and provide certainty for the industry over the coming months was seconded by Cllr Michael Burke.<\/p>\n
Cllr Burke called for changes to be made to the Budget to help support individuals and businesses that are most affected by rising energy costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was \u20ac670m given away to the hospitality industry in the budget, which I felt was unnecessary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As part of Budget 2026, the Government announced a reduction in the Hospitality VAT rate, affecting food, catering and hairdressing, from 13.5pc to 9pc. The measure is due to come into effect in July 2026 and is estimated to cost \u20ac232m for the remainder of the year, rising to approximately \u20ac681m over a full year.<\/p>\n
Cllr Burke said this allocation should be reviewed, with some of the funding redirected to support those most affected by rising diesel and energy costs.<\/p>\n
He highlighted that many daily commuters have seen their fuel bill increase by around 10pc.<\/p>\n
He said it would be \u201cappropriate\u201d for the Government to revise the Budget, which he described as having been done \u201cwrongfully\u201d, calling it a \u201cbad political and financial decision\u201d to fund large hospitality businesses that make \u201cmillions upon millions every year\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are people on the breadline fighting for survival, and small businesses, [that] don\u2019t have that benefit coming to them at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cllr Burke added that the near \u20ac700m wouldn\u2019t solve all the challenges posed by the energy crisis, but said it would help to \u201cease the problems for a lot of people\u201d.<\/p>\n
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe only certainty here, is the uncertainty,\u201d Cllr Damien Ryan said, referring to the escalating situation in Iran…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,179979,184,85,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-375057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-charlotte-davis","10":"tag-economy","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}