Fuel Protests: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-14
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Sharon Keogan (IND), Industrial and Commercial Panel

We are in extreme situations. People are desperate and we have been driven to desperate measures. The crisis of these protests is entirely self-inflicted by Government policy. According to the AA, the average Irish driver is paying extraordinary levels of tax for a full tank of fuel. If a fill of diesel costs €117.70, approximately €56.65 goes straight to the State. If a fill of petrol costs €95.50, roughly €54 is tax. This is what the average driver faces filling up every week or more often. It does not even account for the tens of thousands of Irish men and women for whom driving is not a choice but a livelihood: hauliers, couriers, tradesmen and delivery drivers who simply cannot leave their vehicles at home. This demonstrates one simple fact: the State is capable of dramatically reducing prices at the pump immediately if it chooses to do so. Total tax revenue now stands at €126 billion. Fuel taxes alone generate between €3.5 billion and €4 billion annually. We have a surplus already, so this is not an existential threat to the public finances. We are told that the surplus is for a rainy day. Well, that rainy day is here and it is pouring. If difficult decisions must be made, then let us be honest about where waste exists, namely in runaway overspending, poor value for money and a system that objectively fails the taxpayer.
The same applies to electricity costs. Even after reductions, taxes and Government levies still account for roughly 10% to 11% of the average ESB bill. Families see VAT, PSO levies and charges layered onto inflated energy prices, which the Government has the power to lower as it controls the ESB.
People are not asking for luxuries; they are asking for relief, for fairness and for action now, not later. If nothing changes, we cannot be surprised when public frustration continues to grow. The tools to ease the crisis exist. Please use them.

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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/2026-04-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-14