Fuel Protests: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-14
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Cathal Byrne (FG), Cultural and Educational Panel

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I will speak for a moment, as I did earlier today, about the protesters I met and listened to, and whose stories I heard, over the past number of days. They are ordinary working people who get up at 4 a.m., get onto machinery and work hard all day in the darkness of night right through to the darkness of night in the evening time. They are contractors, hauliers, fishermen, farm labourers and people who drive buses, trucks, lorries, diggers and other heavy machinery. They said to me that they felt there was not enough support from the Government through the taxation system for people who are working hard. They told me how they felt that the fuel crisis was the straw that broke the camel's back as regards high, penalty levels of taxation. They told me how this is effectively a fourth tax. They are paying high-level income tax and are hitting the higher tax threshold too soon. They are paying the USC, which was brought in previously as an emergency measure, but continues to this day. They are paying higher rates of PRSI. Many of them are now also contributing towards their own employees' pensions.
These are people who are asking for fairness. They are not asking for a favour. They are people who work hard. They want the opportunity to continue to work hard but to get an adequate return from that, so they can pay their mortgage, raise their children and continue to contribute to society. I do not support the blockades and they told me that they did not support blockades, but they felt compelled to turn out in a peaceful manner because of the penalty levels of taxation on fuel. I recognise the fact there has been an announcement on that, but my key point is that in facing into the next budget, we have to get to grips with the high level of taxation in this country for the people who feel they pay everything in and cannot get anything back out.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-14