The Government is under sustained pressure not to reinstate the full rate of excise duty on fuel, leaders of the fuel protests that swept the country in April have said.
James Geohegan, who became a prominent figure in organising the nationwide protests, told Gript that he believes the Government will be left with no choice but to maintain the fuel excise cuts.
He says that thanks to renewed pressure, including from professional drivers, farmers, hauliers, bus and taxi operators and plant workers online, it is becoming more likely that the Government will not reduce cuts.
In April, the Government announced a temporary fuel excise cut to 32c on a litre of diesel and 27c for petrol. However, from 1st September, those reductions are due to be phased out gradually – with cuts set to be slashed completely by the end of December.
Prices at the pumps have remained high, fuelling calls for that timetable to be revised.
Figures from AA Ireland show the average cost of a litre of diesel has risen by 19 cent to €1.92 since July, with petrol rising by 9 cent per litre to €1.84 over the same period.
It comes as it was revealed last week that the Government will take in €1.7 billion in VAT on fuel this year.
“It’s one of the highest figures ever recorded in this country,” Peadar Tóibín of Aontú said in response. “VAT on fuel will be €238 million extra this year. We’re talking about in the middle of a fuel crisis, in a cost of living crisis […] the Government is collecting more than they ever did in terms of VAT on fuel.”
“Fuel is not a luxury good. Fuel is a staple good, and this Government is taxing fuel beyond all reason. They are making people go into poverty. They are putting businesses under pressure, and farmers are not able to operate under these conditions,” said the TD.
Mr Geohegan said that he believes the Government is “determined not to give the credit to the protestors” in any case.
“The Government says it still plans to increase the cost of fuel on 1 September, and again on 1 October, and 1 November. At the same time, they have been clear about their plans to increase the carbon tax also. From the Government’s perspective, the higher the cost of fuel, the more money it gets. We have to stand against this,” he added.
“Ireland remains the most expensive country in Europe for household energy, and the second most expensive in the world – so why wouldn’t people be disenchanted? Why wouldn’t people be taking to the streets? We have many people contacting us telling us that the protests actually need to be bigger if they happen for a second time.”
Mr Geohegan publicly discussed “Fuel protests part 2” in June, sparking calls for renewed action on an even bigger scale.
Fuels for Ireland CEO Kevin McPartlan this week sounded the alarm that a second fuel protest could be imminent – as he called on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to recall the Dáil from its summer recess to address the issue.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sharon Tobin, Mr McPartlan said: “We’re already seeing the people who were high profile in the protest the last time out talking about that.”
He added: “They say that ‘if it gets to €2, we’re back on the streets’. The volume of social media posts on this, and the tone of them, are both increasing.
“The volume is increasing and the tone is getting stronger. I’m really, really concerned. I think we’re sleepwalking into a major problem,” Mr McPartlan said.
On reinstating the Dáil, the head of the oil industry in Ireland said: “It just needs to be one quick meeting where they can say, ‘listen, we’re going to just reverse that plan that we had in place’”.
A coalition of farmers, hauliers, drivers, and others are mobilising online. One social media page, ‘People of Ireland Against Fuel Prices Protest’ has a Facebook audience of more than 76,000 followers.
Those running the page said on Facebook last week: “We are being inundated with messages about protests that are supposedly taking place.
“First of all, we want to make it very clear that these protesrts have absolutely nothing to do with us.
“We have helped organise the last four fuel protests, but whatever is currently circulating has come from somewhere else and is not connected to our group.”
The page said that it would be holding its own “proper, officially organised” protest, however.
“We have a final meeting coming up soon, and once everything has been agreed and organised, the official details will be released. We put a massive amount of planning and organisation into our protests,” organisers behind the page added.
“Simply turning up in different areas with no proper structure, coordination or plan is not what we are about. When our protest is confirmed, you will hear it.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), said that fresh fuel protests could be inevitable if the Government proceeds with the first stage of its fuel-tax increases.
“Our preference is for sitting around the table with government ministers. We are meeting with minister Darragh O’Brien this week,” a Cork spokesperson told the Irish Examiner.
“But the essence of it is we can’t hold back the tide of protests at every time. At the moment it feels like our fingers are in the dam. That if hauliers want to take to the roads again and block things down, they will do so out of desperation.”
The Government has no plans to recall the Dáil from its holidays, despite fresh surges in oil prices, partially a result of the war in Iran.
The first of the price rises could still go ahead on 1 September as the Dáil will be in recess, meaning that petrol will increase by 11c and diesel by 12c in two weeks’ time.