Government accused of doing 'bare minimum' in measures to address spiralling fuel prices

Opposition says Government has 'abandoned' households who rely on home heating oil

Government measures announced on Tuesday include a 15c excise cut on petrol and 20c cut on diesel until the end of May.

The Government has been accused of doing the “bare minimum” in measures to address spiralling fuel prices that “barely scratch the surface of what is required to support people who are struggling the most”.

During leaders’ questions, the opposition slated the Government measures unveiled on Tuesday afternoon to ease the burden of rising prices caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.

This included a 15c excise cut on petrol and 20c cut on diesel until the end of May. A reduction in the NORA levy from 2c to zero will bring the total reductions to 17c and 22c for petrol and diesel, respectively.

The fuel allowance season will be extended for another four weeks and will last for the entire month of April. The package will cost €250m.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Government “could not bring itself to provide the maximum support that people need”, as she argued the “reductions in motor fuel do not go far enough”.

Its standout failure is on home heating oil. It has literally abandoned the 750,000 households that rely on home heating oil.

“The price of a fill of home heating oil has doubled in a matter of weeks. A measly cut of 2c a litre is an insult. It amounts only to a €20 reduction on a fill that now costs around €1,700 — a drop in the tank.”

The Social Democrats’ finance spokesman Cian O’Callaghan argued the disabled had been left out.

“The Government, having spent weeks and weeks reviewing the situation, has come into this House and done the bare minimum,” he said.

“It is extending the fuel allowance for a few weeks, but it barely scratches the surface of what is required to support people who are struggling the most.

“There is almost nothing in this package for low-income households who are reliant on home heating oil and unable to pay the 80% spike in prices."

He said the Government seemed to think it did not have to help because it is now March, "but people must still heat their homes in spring, and there are vulnerable people all over the country who cannot now afford to turn their heating on".

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“Elderly people, sitting in freezing cold homes, whose pensions just will not stretch far enough," he said. “Disabled people, whose incomes were already cut by €1,400 in the Government's budget, are making choices between heating and eating, and there are families at breaking point that do not know how they will be able to keep the lights on.”