Construction industry welcomes being included in Government fuel scheme

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, Press Association

Representatives of the construction industry have welcomed being included in the Government’s fuel subsidy scheme, as details for the €505 million package are finalised.

The Government is to reveal the details of support on Wednesday, more than two weeks after the package was announced.

A €100 million fuel subsidy scheme for farmers will provide payments towards the increased cost of green diesel, which has almost doubled since the start of the war in Iran.

The scheme will be backdated to March and run until July to reflect the busy farming period.

There will also be a transport support scheme for all haulage operators, as well as school transport providers and some commercial operators, and a fuel subsidy support scheme for those in farming and fishing.

The Government has agreed that construction contractors, quarry truck drivers and others driving vehicles deemed essential for construction are to be added to those who qualify for the package of fuel supports.

Chief executive of the Construction Industry Federation, Andrew Brownlee, said: “The construction industry continues to feel the effects of global oil price shocks arising from the conflict involving Iran and its wider repercussions.

“These pressures are having a direct and significant impact on construction costs across the sector.

“The Government has now confirmed that the construction sector will be included in the Fuel Subsidy Support Scheme, which is currently being finalised.

“We welcome this important response to the significant cost pressures being experienced by construction companies across the country.”

The €505 million package was announced by the Government in the wake of fuel protests and blockades that saw fuel supplies limited across the country.

It was unveiled less than three weeks after €250 million worth of measures were announced by government responding to the fuel crisis sparked by the war in Iran and the effective shutdown of vital trading route the Strait of Hormuz.

Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon has said the savings from the subsidy scheme for farmers and farm contractors, combined with previous measures announced by the Government, will reduce green diesel by 27.4 cent per litre.

The €100 million Fuel Subsidy Support Scheme, which includes €15 million for fisheries and aquaculture, will see payments covering the months from March to July, which is the busiest period for fuel usage on farms.

It is understood that around 120,000 farmers and 1,500 full-time agricultural contractors will be eligible for the payments.

To use the scheme, applicants will need to apply online and the size of the payments will be based on their fuel usage in 2025.

Heydon said previously that the package for farmers was one he had been working on “for some time”.

He said the initial €250 million package of supports from Government limited action on green diesel because while it had risen exponentially as a result of the war in the Middle East, there is “very little” excise on it.

“So what I was doing was designing the scheme over the Easter break, before the protests ever started,” he told RTE’s Today With David McCullagh programme.

“I had meetings in Government Buildings on Holy Week with the farm contractors of Ireland, with the IFA (Irish Farmers’ Association) and others around designing the scheme, which is the first time ever (we) will have had a scheme for our contractors directly.”

He said the subsidy payments would be backdated to March 1st and cover the five-month period from March through to July, covering the busy farming period including from the silage season and the cereals harvesting season.

“We had contractors who were seeing a €70,000-80,000 increase on their diesel bill alone and fear of it not being sustainable to carry that debt, but farmers not being in a position to be able to pay them,” he said.

He said the scheme would provide a lump-sum payment based on an application where applicants self-declare their fuel usage for last year.

He said there will be caps and ceilings in place that would be agreed with farm contractor representatives and that he had also discussed the matter with the banks “to allow for the fact that this money is coming”.

“I will do this as quickly as possible,” he said.