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LAST UPDATE | 8 Mar 2022
A CUT IN excise on petrol and diesel will be signed off by Cabinet tomorrow.
An incorporeal Cabinet meeting will be held in the morning where ministers will green light the cut.
A Dáil resolution to sign off on the measure will follow. It is expected the cut will kick in from midnight tomorrow night.
The level of the cut is not yet known but will be agreed by ministers in the morning.
Over the weekend, senior sources confirmed to The Journal that the Government would move to cut excise within the week as the price hit €2 per litre mark for petrol and diesel on some forecourts.
In the Dáil today, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald TD called for an immediate cut to excise duty, saying that ”speed is of the essence”.
Speaking during Leaders’ Questions, McDonald noted that the Dáil will not be sitting next week.
“At the pumps we can get prices down by 25 cent per litre immediately by cutting excise duty. And similarly, the spiraling cost of home heating oil could be cushioned with the immediate removal of excise duty.
“These measures need to be introduced now as a matter of urgency,” said McDonald.
The Journal reported last week that senior sources said that should the €2 per litre mark for petrol and diesel be breached, the Government would have no choice but to step in.
Mary Lou McDonald calls for an immediate cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel.
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) March 8, 2022
She says the spiraling cost of home heating oil could be cushioned with the immediate removal of excise duty too. pic.twitter.com/JvnebIqzyH
Prior to the war, there were already significant increases in fuel prices, the Taoiseach said today, adding that they have only gotten worse since the onset of war in Ukraine.
He said there is “no question” that costs will go up as a result of the conflict.
“So government is acutely aware of this issue. We don’t argue that the impacts of people are not sustainable at the rate that these increases are occurring,” said the Taoiseach.
“The Government is giving this very active consideration,” he added, stating:
I don’t want to get into specifics right now.
McDonald said the Government needs to act now, and called for a financial resolution to be brought before the House this week, either tonight or tomorrow night.
“I’m asking you Taoiseach to do this now. Speed is of the essence because people are suffering and struggling,” she said.
“Suffice to say that the impact of the war will be very, very serious and significant for all nations across the European continent and will be a long haul in terms of our response to it.
“What we would normally do in normal times, will no longer be the approach that we will have to take as a society. We will have to look outside the norm, outside the box in terms of dealing with this crisis,” he said, adding:
“And that applies to that specific issue that you’ve raised as well as other issues. But as I said to the Government is keeping this under very, very active consideration.”
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The government could change it at midnight if they wonted to, look when the smokes go up in the budget the price change at 12, the fact is that there realing in so much extra money from the taxpayer they have no interest in helping us out!.
@Heisen berg1:
No wrong, if in the budget and other changes coming into affect at midnight their is a vote in the Dail on the measures
@Declan Sweeney: stop making excuses plus your grammar is desperate, budget are voted on same day of announcements not rocket science
@Heisen berg1: do you think the budget is all done on the day?
@Larry O Reilly: Kettel calling the pot black.
He says wait until it is over €2 per litre easy know he doesn’t have to buy petrol or diesel because most places now it is gone over that figure
@Andy Murphy: And you will find once it’s up it will be like the usc
When the price gets to €2.50 a litre they will drop it by 5cent and say they have acted. Watch this space.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
The government make a percentage on this.. So the more it goes up in value at source, the bigger the cut in excise AND then the 23% VAT charged on the excise !!! When has the Irish government ever been fair on anything..
@Stephen Campbell: you mean when they funded people and businesses over the last two years of a pandemic? Seriously, what country do you think you live in?
@Jarlath Coady: the point still stands. When the price increases at source then the amount of VAT to be paid increases. Why not change it to a flat rate?? The government would then make the same amount regardless.
@wormtubes: the government is reducing the excise duty therefore the VAT will reduce as well
@Jarlath Coady: I’ve been funding the government for the past 55 years through every tax there is & I’ve never received anything back, I don’t know what ur talking about.
@Jarlath Coady: It is the taxpayer that will be funding the the monies that were given to people and businesses in the past two years.
I filled up for €1.32 a litre in Andorra last weekend. I then bought a lite bottle of Jameson for €13 in the same village.
@Bitcoin Buddy: will they give you a pension when u are 65
@patrick malone: why would they when I have a private one
@Bitcoin Buddy: *litre
@patrick malone: Unless you’re very close to retirement I wouldn’t be banking on a public pension here either.
@patrick malone: Irelany won’t. Have to be 67. And even then I expect it will be virtually nothing bu the time I retire
@Bitcoin Buddy: Litre of Jameson €17 in Lanzarote… €44 in Ireland supermarkets.
@Bitcoin Buddy: how much are the social welfare payments in Andorra?
@patrick malone: if you work In rte you’ll get a pension at 65 otherwise 68 and rising
The maths is easy on this. When it was 1.50 a litre the governments take was 90c a litre. Its now 2.00 a litres the government’s take is 1.20. So the government are making an extra 30c a litre. Let them keep what they were taking on 1.50 a litre and reduce the price by the excess. But no, they will continue to screw the public
A supplier in Limerick delivered heating oil on Monday to my in-laws for €1.02 a litre. Same supplier told me today they would only deliver 500 litres to me even though I asked for 1000. So agreed I would take 500 and proceeded to sort the payment. I nearly fell off the seat when I was told it would be €1000. €2 a litre !!!! Needless to say I rang around and got it for €1.40 a litre. Absolute extortion. A company who have been supplying both households for a long time have just lost costumers.
@Andy mc Laughlin: there’s a three week delay with a lot of Cork suppliers and they won’t take on new customers now as well..
Excise duty should be reduced from today, where are the opposition parties that don’t bring an urgent motion to the Dail to reduce it See who votes against it
@James Horkan: imagine we could remove all their travel expenses, they wouldn’t take as long to sort something
@James Horkan: Because we don’t have an opposition. We have whiney Mary-Lou who because of her previous pro-Russian support has now gone underground.
@lelookcoco: SF are been supporters of Russia and now have gone underground
@lelookcoco: By opposition, do you mean when F.F.were last in opposition they kept Varadkar and FG. In power through conference and supply agreement. Bit of a contradiction that you now criticise S.F. for holding FFG to account.
@Patrick O Connell: it was 4 FG and 1 FF MEPs who voted against sanctions on Trillions of Russian money in tax havens 2 days ago.
@lelookcoco & Patrick O’Connell: Gone underground???? We don’t have an opposition???? Nincompoops the pair of you ! Embarrassing comments.
It took them 2 months to do anything about energy price increase and even that credit wont be available until April, just in time when the hardest months of energy use are over and the biggest benefit would have been felt. They wouldnt have done anything on the fuel prices only for the fact the EU are releasing a paper on the matter. They don’t care about the people of the country
Perhaps he’s waiting for it to drop in price
Diesel will be up €0.15 cent by Wednesday.. there’s no stopping… anyone that can work from home should be told to do so at least two days a week…
Prob trying to milk it for as long as possible before having to step in.
“very active consideration” translates to I’ll leave it to whichever one of my overpaid advisors draws the short straw and has to stay at home from the free junket trip to Washington at taxpayers expense to draw a few graphs so that I can blame Sinn Fein for the price increases when the dail resumes in mid April
Last Week Leo Said they would have to Ask EUROPE BEFORE THEY COULD CUT I never heard him Say we have to Ask EUROPE when they increase the Duty Bluffer Leo
@pat seery: What you read was that they would have to get permission from Europe TO CUT THE VAT. WHY DON’T YOU READ THINGS PROPERLY AND THEN YOU WON’T HAVE TO RANT IN CAPS PAT.
@Lee King Buckett: One day you’ll finally fill those big boy pants or yours and realise you don’t need to be so angry at strangers on the internet because of your incurities.
@Roy Dowling: One day you’ll learn that incurities isn’t a real world.
@Lee King Buckett: The word I typed is considered toxic and while putting in a space to make it less toxic I somehow ereased some letters. Da m you journal.ie toxicity ratings.
@pat seery: just get NEPHIT to recommend it and it’ll be done straight away
Our coal supplier is raising a 40kg bag of coal by a Euro, will be increased again in May with that fecking Carbon tax. A 1000 litre oil tank was €850 before Christmas now it’s €1500, help..
@Ian O’Donovan: some coal suppliers put €4 on it already.
@barry moore: jebus
@Ian O’Donovan: my coal merchant increased his 40kg bag of coal by 1 euro last week to 21 euro a bag
213.9 in my local station in clare today.
@Keith Lenihan: and it’s a long long way from Clare to here
@Hugh Morris:
I won’t be able to afford to travel there anytime soon.
@Keith Lenihan: where d hell was that
It’s a disgrace. Carbon tax, excise duty, VAT and recent price gouging….rip off Ireland and mostly from our Government
Fix the oil price fixing and cartel first in Ireland like the natinwide coordinated countrywide blanket 10 cent increase
On fri evening regardless of stock
Ah hear leave it bleeding out
They say that they’re well aware how hard it is for the public but still wait until it reaches €2 a litre before they decide to act. They’re out of touch and couldn’t give a damn about us.
Must remember to charge my EV tonight.
With fears of running low and escalating prices, I priced 300 litres at 4.30 this afternoon using an online price comparison site. Cheapest price was €499. As it had been around €449 a few days earlier I decided I better buy some in.. Logged in to order at 5.30 by which time all prices had increased substantially, the lowest price had increased to €540 and dearest was €599. It can hardly be the case that all suppliers had received stocks at the same time and at a higher cost price. Like playing the stock market at the moment and widespread gouging going on. Now having paid the new price, there is every likelihood that it will go down tomorrow night. I very much doubt that the new lower pricing will be applied as quickly as the increase.
20c per litre means the price will stand still for a day or two! I’ve already been notified by DCI that the price will increase by 15c per litre tonight! 50c per litre would have been more effective and they still would be covered with tax take.
Going up buy 15c tonight anyway . Too little too late
@Go On: Another social media parrot parroting away rumours heard on tiktok or twitter with no source, happy to cause more panic buying… Nice one buddy keep it up
@Lee King Buckett: Dci fuel cards are increasing by 15 cents plus vat at midnight tonight.
@Dave Deering: And that’s the key point. DCI are increasing prices for their fuel card customers.
That’s not the same as half the Internet saying ‘petrol and diesel are going up 15c at midnight’ and then everyone panic buying.
@Lee King Buckett: even if half the internet wasn’t saying it lee its deffo going up 15c.maybe not at midnight but very very very very soon.
@Lee King Buckett: you should be in government you know everything
@John brett: Thanks John, maybe some of it will sink in if you stay around long enough.
The reduction in duty is welcome but without measures to prevent price grouging the full benefits won’t be passed on to consumers. Government should also actively encourage employers to allow staff WFH full time. This would have a limited impacted on the Exchequer but it would be massive win for people being forced to commute to cities when the vast majority of them don’t want to or in many cases if prices continue to increase can’t afford too.
@JCBH: Absolutely, and the more people who can WFH, the less fuel will be used as well.
€1 per litre for diesel and petrol
When a litre of fuel nearly cost the same as 500ml of Coke, they had to do something.
The oil companies are going to end up making more money now at the expense of the exchequer, they will put the price up to fill the space left by the cut. I spend €500/month on diesel but I still think it’s a bad idea to reduce excise.
Jan average fuel price was €1.25 per liter. Today the average price is €2.02. And increase of €0.77. With tax/ duties/levies at 58% that is an ADDITIONAL €0.45 per liter. FFG are proposing to reduce that ADDITIONAL income by €0.15-€0.20. GOUGING in time of crisis by FFG.
Ordered home heating oil for my elderly mother just before it all started. Got 500L for €475 that is now costing €800.
She’s just barely over the income limit for the fuel allowance and if this keeps up people like her will be left freezing if they dont have anyone to help them.
have your say