The cost of living crisis requires a full overhaul of Ireland’s energy policy, including an overhaul of “eco-alarmist” climate policies, rather than temporary interventions, the Seanad has heard.
Independent Meath Senator Sharon Keogan warned on Tuesday that hauliers and working people are facing mounting financial pressure, as she called for an overhaul of national energy policy.
The Senator said that “eco-alarmist policies” had restricted Ireland’s options during the ongoing fuel and energy crisis. She also said fuel taxes should be scrapped entirely.
While the Government cut petrol excise at the height of the fuel price shock in April, increased the diesel rebate for haulers and bus operators and reduced the NORA levy, the majority of measures are temporary. The Government has yet to announce a new fuel-price cut, as Simon Harris indicated this week that it may delay the next planned restoration of fuel excise cuts as prices remained high.
Mr Harris said that going ahead with the planned unwinding of cuts “may not be prudent.”
Senator Keogan referred to comments made by the president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, IRHA, warning that hauliers cannot sustain current fuel prices.
Ger Hyland told the Irish Times that diesel was edging towards €2.20 a litre, which he said was an unprecedented level in Ireland. Mr Hyland said that businesses were effectively watching themselves “evaporate” – and that every 65c of every €1 spent on fuel goes to the Government in taxes.
Mr Hyland said that many hauliers consider diesel priced above €1.90/litre unviable.
“Desperate times make desperate people,” he said on the possibility of further protests, adding that members had “very little else to lose.”
“As fuel prices continue to climb, regardless of Government taxes or not, I think it is fair to acknowledge that we are now in desperate times,” said Senator Keogan.
The Senator referred to polling published last week which showed that 60% to 66% of the Irish public would support a new round of fuel protests.
“That is no surprise, because fuel protests do not just affect truck drivers. Everything in this country relies on fuel and energy prices,” she said. “If anything goes up, the ordinary working people of Ireland are already on a knife’s edge. All of Europe is reporting record high fuel prices.
“The Middle East is in crisis, as there looks to be no resolution with Iran and the Saudi Government is cancelling its oil shipments. While I naturally believe that the Government should delay the taxes, this is a stop-gap solution.
“What this entire crisis says is that we need a total overhaul of our energy policy. I will repeat my call from before. I think we need to go further and scrap fuel taxes altogether, and we need to invest our current surplus into serious long-term infrastructure such as public transport, roads, railways, and even nuclear energy, things that will pay us back in the long run,” she added.
Calling out climate policies, she told the Seanad: “Most of all, I believe we need to seriously re-evaluate and scrap much of the eco-alarmist policies that have left our hands tied behind our backs at a time when we are fighting for our lives.”
It comes as Transport and Climate Minister Darragh O’Brien said a further deferral of the scheduled carbon-tax increase is “on the table” for the upcoming October budget. Mr O’Brien acknowledged that carbon tax has significant financial implications for Irish households and businesses – while saying such revenue helps to fund retrofitting and other measures.
The next scheduled carbon-tax increase is for October 14th.
Ireland remains substantially off track for its 2030 climate targets, despite the policies already being implemented, according to the EPA – with transport, industry and commercial and public buildings among the sectors furthest from their targets.