The Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government is unable to fully protect every sector from increasing fuel and energy costs, adding that efforts are being made to ease the financial pressure, reports Breaking News.
Despite measures including a 20 cent reduction in excise duty on diesel and a 15 cent cut on petrol, the expense of refuelling cars, buses, and tractors has remained elevated, with notable price differences reported across the country, linked to the US and Israel bombing of Iran’s oil facilities, reports Breaking News.
Speaking in Limerick on Friday, the Taoiseach said: “The world is in conflict, and this war in the Middle East is having a huge impact on oil supply, but also on the cost of energy more generally, that’s what we’re witnessing now. No government in the world can compensate every sector or every individual for what is happening on the international markets as a result of the war. But what we can do is to try and ease the pressure on families, to target whatever relief we can give, and that’s what we are doing. And the package we announced this week is probably the largest package across Europe to be announced at this stage, and we’re only three weeks into this war,” reports Breaking News.
Martin cautioned that the government does “not have certainty in terms of what could potentially unfold in the weeks ahead” and therefore must be “careful and cautious” about the extent of the financial buffer it is willing to provide to the public, reports Breaking News.
“We also have a budget next year. We’ve got to invest in more services, education, health, children, right across the board. So, I think the government got the balance right this week,” reports Breaking News.
“We supported the fuel allowance to many working families who would benefit from that, but also hauliers, because hauliers will impact on the price of food on the shelves — the haulage industry is critical to trade, critical to our economy, and so we’re trying to target resources while also trying to give people more generally helping hand, and that’s why the excise duties have been reduced,” reports Breaking News.
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