Call for Government to halt fuel excise duty hike as figures show tax take highest ever

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said the figures were 'an astronomical amount of money collected from tax on fuel' and show the excise duty should remain cut.

The tax take from fuel was just under €3.8bn last year — the highest in the past decade — despite cuts to excise duties.

Prices are set to increase once again when those excise duty cuts expire and will see 4c, 3c and 1.7c added to petrol, diesel and marked gas oil respectively on both April 1 and August 1.

Data released to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín shows the Government collected €3.8bn in tax on fuel last year, including €107m from carbon tax on natural gas — which is the highest on record.

A further €2.4bn came from mineral oil tax, while €19m came from solid fuel carbon Tax and €4.2m from electricity tax.

In his response to Mr Tóibín, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said  while traders are not required to identify the Vat yield generated from the supply of specific goods and services on their Vat returns, a tentative estimate of the Vat generated on fuel and energy products is about €1.2bn.

Mr Tóibín said the figures were "an astronomical amount of money collected from tax on fuel" and show the excise duty should remain cut.

"The Government, ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has been at pains to try and convince the public that it is doing everything it can to tackle and reduce the cost of fuel. 

The reality presented in these figures is that the Government is actually cashing in on the rise in price and has taken in more tax than ever before.

“We’ve heard in recent days about upcoming excise duty hikes on petrol and diesel. Given that these figures show that the tax intake isn’t taking a hit in relation to fuel, and is actually rising steadily, the Government should halt the excise duty increases and work to reduce the tax rate given the enormous burden on families, farmers and commuters around the country."

Mr Tóibín said he had voted against the Climate Action Bill in the Dáil, because he "knew it would pave the way for carbon tax which would unfairly penalise farmers and workers — including the countless people travelling to work in factories, and those just trying to heat their homes by whatever means possible".

His call was echoed by Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty, who said the move would "heap further pressure on workers and families". Mr Doherty said  petrol and diesel prices had risen 30% in the last three years. 

He called on incoming Taoiseach Simon Harris to scrap the planned increases.

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However, in a recent response to independent Clare TD Violet Anne Wynne, Mr McGrath said he would not be postponing the increases.

"While I recognise households and business continue to face challenges, the Government must strike the appropriate balance between providing support and avoiding fuelling cyclical inflationary trends," he said, adding national average prices "have eased considerably from highs of over €2 per litre which we saw in 2022". 

He said the Central Statistics Office Consumer Price Index shows the average national retail prices of auto diesel and petrol have "decreased from approximately €1.85 per litre in October 2023 to approximately €1.69 per litre for diesel and €1.68 for petrol in January 2024".