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.

She says the spiraling cost of home heating oil could be cushioned with the immediate removal of excise duty too. pic.twitter.com/JvnebIqzyH

— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) March 8, 2022

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. 

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“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.”