Fuel Prices: Motion Dail Éireann — 2026-04-14 ============================================================ Robert Troy (FF), Longford-Westmeath That is not a true reflection of what happened everywhere and we need to acknowledge that also. The Deputy is right that the Government won the confidence vote in the Dáil. As I said in my contribution on the confidence motion, we would be extremely foolhardy and wrong as a Government if we did not acknowledge the anxiety, fear and frustration out there of the people we represent. Sinn Féin does not have a monopoly on representation of people. Nobody does. Each one of us has received our own democratic mandate to be here for a period of five years. We may disagree in terms of how we address certain issues but this Government is acutely aware of the current fuel crisis faced by all sectors of our society. That is why we have responded with the second sizable package in the space of a number of weeks to alleviate some of those pressures. This is not a half measure as asserted in the Sinn Féin motion. When we combine the two packages, this is the most comprehensive package of any country in the EU. It is important to state that, as a Government, we do not have the luxury of coming forward with uncosted proposals. We have the responsibility not only to respond in the short term but also to manage the long-term economic stability of this country. If it were not for the proper and prudent management of the economy over the last number of years, we would not be in a position to make the interventions at the rate we have been able to do over the last weeks. I note that Sinn Féin's motion is quick to state that the prices of fuels are high, but it fails to state the reason the prices of fuels are high. I wish to state unequivocally that the spikes in the price of fuels are not, as the Opposition would lead you to believe, solely and exclusively due to taxation. The price of fuel is determined by a number of factors, most of which are outside of the Government's control, including the wholesale market price, international market dynamics, international exchange rate impacts, distributional costs, and retail pricing policy. Excise duty is calculated on a volumetric basis, meaning that the cash value of the tax collected remains the same regardless of the price on the forecourt. In the context of excise reductions, this means that the State will collect significantly less excise for every litre of fuel sold. While VAT operates as an ad valorem tax and, therefore, VAT receipts do increase as the price of a commodity increases, the figures that have been quoted in the Dáil and in the media by certain members of the Opposition have been disingenuous and off the mark. This was done in a calculated way to instil fear, sow division and exploit the legitimate fears and concerns of members of our community. The Government does not seek or want high fuel prices. Higher energy prices create higher business input costs. This creates higher prices for goods and services, which impacts everybody. Previously, we had calls from Opposition benches for things like price caps. That would be an extremely expensive and untargeted measure. Price controls below the market price for any goods or services would impose costs on retailers. In some cases, this could be absorbed by a reduction in profitability, but in most cases this would result in losses for the retailer. Given the very large increases in fuel prices, imposing price controls on fuel retailers would render most unviable and they would exit the market. This would result in the State having to subsidise fossil fuel consumption directly at an enormous cost to the taxpayer. Introducing a price cap on fuel to the level some Opposition Deputies have been suggesting could cost billions of euro. That money is being spent on essential services such as health, education and housing, all things that various members of the Opposition seek further expenditure on. For those who suggest that the Government introduce a piece a price cap on fuels, I ask those very same Deputies to provide a list of the public services they suggest cutting to pay for this. --- 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/dail/2026-04-14/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:07+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-14