An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-25
============================================================

Martin Conway (IND), Administrative Panel

I want to put on the record my acknowledgement of the announcement by the Government yesterday in respect of dealing with the cost of fuel in light of the current situation in Iran. There has been significant engagement with the Irish Road Haulage Association, and there is a commitment to continue this engagement.
We cannot forget that we are an island nation and rely on hauliers to transport goods in and out of our island. This is always going to be something that needs be kept under review.
We perhaps need to consider an overall future strategy when it comes to excise duty in general. It is correct that we are collecting a significant amount of money in excise duties, more than many other European countries. The cost of fuel in Ireland is significantly higher than other countries. A more long-term review is needed. I call on the Leader to request a more long-term study or review on how we can ensure lorry and truck drivers and the haulage industry in this country can remain competitive because of the supply chain necessitated due to our being an island nation. Yesterday's announcement has to be welcomed and will make a difference. It is to be hoped this is a short-term difficulty and the situation in Iran will rectify itself. Even if it does, it will take some time before changes percolate down to the pockets of consumers of this country. I welcome the announcement.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-25