Government to tackle fuel prices, help the vulnerable and hauliers next week, Tánaiste confirms

Simon Harris said the Government 'won’t rule out further measures'. Picture: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie

The Government will announce a three-pronged approach to help people with the cost of living that will impact the price at the pumps, vulnerable people, and hauliers, the Tánaiste has confirmed.

However, Simon Harris has also warned that any measures announced on Tuesday could be for short periods of time as the long-term fallout from the ongoing war in the Middle East remains uncertain.

The coalition has committed to agreeing on a suite of measures that will be announced following Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting. Talks are set to continue over the weekend before being signed off on Monday evening at the leaders’ meeting.

Speaking in Galway on Friday morning, the Tánaiste said there will be a range of measures to help different categories of people.

“I know the pressure people are feeling,” Mr Harris said. “The pressure is acute. The pressure is real, and there’s a time of great anxiety for people.

“On Tuesday, the Government will bring forward a series of measures. We will work over the weekend. Myself, the Taoiseach [Micheál Martin], other relevant ministers are in very constant contact on this. I'm in constant contact with my economics team at the Department of Finance.

Mr Harris said there will be a "few areas that will clearly have to be a part of that".

"How we can assist people at the pump, where the price of petrol and diesel has literally gone through the roof," he said.

“How we can assist those most in need, those most acutely at risk of fuel poverty.

“How we can assist core parts of our economy, including the haulage sector, which is so vital in terms of supply chains.

“I need to be very honest with the people of Ireland; I have yet to meet anybody in the world who can predict with any degree of certainty where this conflict is going to go, how long it's going to go on for, the depths with which it's going to reach, and therefore the full economic consequences."

He also said he "feels strongly" that anything the Government does has to be, in the first instance, for a short period of time. 

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

"We have to have the agility as a country to adapt, to evolve, to respond to the measures we put forward, should different sets of measures be required in the time ahead," the Tánaiste said.

Mr Harris said the economy is in “good health” and the Government is in a “position to help” people, but that the right decisions have to be made.

He also said that the situation could evolve later in the year and that if the conflict is still going on after the summer, a “different range of measures may be needed” in the winter. 

He added that the Government “won’t rule out further measures”.

'Half measures'

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald warned on Friday that the Government cannot announce “half measures” next Tuesday, as she called for tax cuts for “home heating oil, petrol, and diesel”.

She also criticised ministers for not acting sooner, saying they were “waltzing into the weekend”.

Ms McDonald said: “Fuel prices continue to skyrocket. We saw diesel increase by another seven cent overnight.

“It will increase again tonight. Petrol is expected to follow suit. The price of home heating oil has doubled.

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's slowness to respond leaves households under enormous pressure.”