Motorists to see price cuts as fuel excise reductions come into force

Dáil backs excise cuts to ease pressure on motorists, with opposition criticising measures as insufficient and delayed

Wed, 25 Mar, 2026 - 06:30

Paul Hosford

Fuel prices will begin to fall from this morning after the Government agreed late on Tuesday to cut excise duties on petrol and diesel.

Prices at the pumps are set to drop by between 15c and 20c per litre until the end of May, as the Government moves to tackle soaring costs for motorists and hauliers.

The Government’s financial resolution to cut excise passed the Dáil by 118 votes to 39, with only Sinn Féin and Independent TD Carol Nolan voting against.

The opposition criticised the Government’s plan, with Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty saying that the rising price of oil for households and motorists was “an emergency”.

He said the Government had “done nothing” for four weeks and that the package announced on Tuesday was “too little, too late”.

He said the Government could have cut excise further and had done nothing to address the cost of home heating oil.

"You're going through the motions as more and more people suffer," Mr Doherty told Tánaiste Simon Harris.

Mr Harris earlier called on the petrol industry to “play fair” and pass on cuts quickly. He said the package would “make a real difference in the here and now”.

Labour’s Ged Nash told the Dáil that the “people of Ireland had waited for weeks” and that the Government proposal was “timid and anaemic”.

"These are the very definition of half measures," he said.

Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan said the Government had abandoned its commitment to targeted measures.

People Before Profit–Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger said she was concerned to hear that measures for hauliers and bus companies would be backdated.