Irish Examiner view: Government response to rising fuel prices is inadequate

Fuel prices are higher than they were, and the Government’s response to this situation leaves much to be desired

The situation in Iran is being blamed for the price hikes visible at service stations all over the country.

In the course of the past week, we have seen one of the more unfortunate features of Irish life manifest itself again — price gouging.

Many readers will be aware of the sharp jump in the price of fuel since the US attacked Iran earlier this week. 

That conflict is being blamed for the price hikes visible at service stations all over the country, though some observers have suggested that fuel companies should have plenty of reserves to hand.

What cannot be disputed is that fuel prices are now higher than they were, and the Government’s response to this situation leaves much to be desired. 

On Friday, enterprise minister Peter Burke reported on his meeting with representatives of the fuel industry to discuss the pricing issue, and to no-one’s surprise that encounter appeared to run along expected lines.

Mr Burke said the meeting was “constructive” and that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) was investigating the matter. 

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Kevin McPartlan, chief executive of Fuels for Ireland, said the meeting was positive and that no co-ordination of pricing would be found in that investigation.

A cynic would be forgiven for thinking that both sides had taken on their traditional roles, though with one small difference. 

The fuel industry clearly took the initiative and outflanked the minister when Mr McPartlan said: “We expressed our concern that some of the language that has been used by political leaders has really influenced the amount of abuse, insult, and threats which our staff our experiencing.”

The minister then had to call for an end to such abuse, even though the suggestion that senior ministers’ opinions were somehow inciting abuse of retail workers looks unlikely, to say the least.

The Government should be more proactive in this area.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was one of the factors driving the cost of living crisis, and it moved to introduce one-off measures to combat the crisis. 

In this case, it could legislate to broaden the powers of the CCPC, for instance, rather than going through the motions of meaningless meetings with industry figures.

Prison overcrowding: No thought for consequences

Overcrowding has been a long-running challenge in the Irish prison system, and this week’s news about Cork Prison bears that out. 

Figures from the Irish Prison Service show 416 inmates were in Cork Prison on Thursday, of whom 105 were on mattresses: The prison has an official capacity of 296 beds.

The solution floated by justice minister Jim O’Callaghan this week was to reuse the old prison, which was shut in 2017. 

Mr O’Callaghan said plans to deliver more prison spaces over the next five years, included “a large extension to the existing Cork Prison on the site of the old decommissioned Cork prison”.

This is an extraordinary proposal. 

The former prison has been left vacant for almost a decade, a period in which, as local councillor John Maher has pointed out, it could have been repurposed for residential, recreational, or tourism use.

The fact that the State has done nothing at all with such a prime site in the middle of the worst housing crisis in our history is bad enough, but this error will be compounded if the building is simply repurposed as a prison.

Cork Prison has an official capacity of 296 beds. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

To complicate matters further, the minister appeared to contradict himself when saying there “will not be a second prison in The Glen area”. 

Yet, by proposing the old prison be reopened, that is precisely what will happen.

The minister also said “there will be more engagement as part of the planning process”, but Mr Maher has said there has been no engagement with locals. 

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When and if that engagement takes place the minister can surely expect to hear plenty of criticism of his plan to locate two prisons in one suburb. 

It is surely the antithesis of any notion of balanced development to have two prisons in one area. 

When one also considers the waste of the old prison for almost a decade, and the cost of any repurposing works, this looks like a plan conceived in a hurry and with little thought of the consequences.

Britney Spears: A shame to see

Britney Spears, one of the biggest music stars of the 90s, was arrested this week on suspicion of drink driving in Los Angeles.

A police spokesperson said that after Spears was pulled over and got out of her car, she showed signs of impairment and submitted to sobriety tests. 

She was booked into jail and released early the following morning.

Spears’s own representative described the incident as “completely inexcusable” and said the singer was going to “take the right steps to comply with the law”.

It is the latest troubling episode in a life with no shortage of similar experiences. 

Britney Spears pictured in 2018. Picture: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File

Spears sold millions of albums and packed stadia all over the world in her heyday, but she has had to deal with mental health and substance issues for many years. 

She was placed in a conservatorship in 2008, a legal arrangement whereby her father took charge of her life and finances because of the issues mentioned earlier. 

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The conservatorship was only lifted in 2021.

The singer is still a poster child, but not for fame and fortune as much as for exploitation and victimisation. 

At her peak, she earned millions for record companies and media organisations as well as herself, and it is sad to see her still making headlines for the wrong reasons.