Fuel excise cuts to be unwound by February

By Cate McCurry and Cillian Sherlock, Press Association

Existing excise cuts on fuel will remain in place until the end of October, according to Cabinet-approved measures to be voted on in the Dáil.

The Dáil will be recalled early from the summer break on Friday for an hour-long debate on the measures – with opposition figures criticising the Government for “lurching” from crisis to crisis.

Cabinet held an in-person meeting on Thursday where it was agreed that increases in fuel excise that were due to take effect on September 1st will not go ahead.

It would have added 10c and 9c to a litre of diesel and petrol respectively.

These temporary interventions will start unwinding in November

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “Our response is carefully considered and balances competitiveness and cost of living concerns with the need for sustainable budgetary policies.”

However, the Social Democrats suggested the Government has been caught in a “doom spiral” without any “clear strategy” to keep fuel costs down and was instead reacting to the “whims” of US President Donald Trump.

The party’s deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan said further investment is needed in areas such as solar panels, as well as targeted energy supports, and called for a levy to be placed on data centres to the tune of €85 million.

Mr O’Callaghan accused the Government of “lurching from crisis to crisis” and said: “We are calling for targeted energy supports for people, a 400 euro target energy credit for households with an income of €70,000 or less, and that should be included in October’s budget.”

On Thursday, petrol could be purchased for around 183 cent per litre while diesel was available for approximately 193 cent – with Government figures wanting to avoid motorists facing prices above €2.

The excise cuts were initially brought in April after major protests – largely led by farmers, agricultural contractors and hauliers highlighting rising operating costs – strangled fuel distribution around the country.

It saw excise cut by 32c on a litre of diesel and 27c for petrol.

The cuts had already been extended, but continuing uncertainty in the Middle East meant Government leadership saw fit to recall the Dáil to vote through a further financial resolution.

Excise rates will be restored over four stages between the start of November and the end of February.

Mr O’Callaghan said: “Unless we see systemic changes that are needed, including long-term solutions, we will see the Government proposing more and more emergency measures every few months.

“We need to invest in long-term measures that break our dependence on fossil fuels and make the cost of living more affordable.”

He added: “Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are caught in a doom spiral of haphazard emergency measures, reacting to the whims of Donald Trump without any clear plan to address the root causes of the crisis.

“We want to get out of a situation where these kind of emergency measures are needed because if we invest in things like solar, then we won’t be in a situation where year after year the Government is scrambling around looking for extra resources for emergency measures.

“The more they get caught up in it, the further away we are from meeting where we need to get in terms of reducing emissions.”

The coalition also agreed to extend the reduced Nora levy until October 31st and to extend the enhanced Diesel Rebate Scheme until the end of December.