Government ‘cashing in’ on fuel price rises, Aontú leader says

The scheduled reinstatement of excise on petrol, diesel and marked oil to the rates that applied two years ago is to begin on Monday, with a four-cent rise in the price of a litre of petrol and a three-cent rise in the price of diesel.

A 1.5 cent per litre increase in the price of fuel for use in non-road vehicles will also be introduced.

This will be followed by further increases in August.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, has called for the planned increase to be scrapped.

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Mr Tóibín said provisional data released to him shows the Government collected €3.8 billion in tax on fuel in 2023, the highest amount collected in the past decade.

“The Government, ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have been at pains to try and convince the public that they’re doing everything they can to tackle and reduce the cost of fuel,” he said. “The reality presented in these figures is that the Government are actually cashing in on the rise in price and have taken in more tax than ever before.”

Aontú was the only political party to vote against the climate action Bill in the Dáil, he said, and had done so because it would pave the way for a carbon tax that would unfairly penalise farmers and workers. “The Government need to cease their spin, and make changes to these taxation rates so as to ease the burden on people around the country,” he said.

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The Irish Road Haulage Association also criticised the scheduled increase of tax on fuel, saying it defied logic and was economic madness.

“The Government seems to have a death wish for the road haulage sector – on top of increases in tolls, the Government is now throwing on increases in fuel costs on April 1st and August,” said the association’s president, Ger Hyland.

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