Fuel Prices: Motion
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-14
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Robert Troy (FF), Longford-Westmeath

We must underline and understand that what we are seeing at the moment is a large increase in the wholesale market price of oil as a result of the supply shock caused by the conflict in the Middle East. This is compounding the supply issues we faced at the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
That is what is driving the increase in fuel costs. Sinn Féin’s motion on fuel prices fails to mention that fact. This is an enormous challenge, not just for Ireland, but for every country around the world facing into the energy crisis. It is the Government’s job to strike an appropriate balance between keeping our economy moving and our public services funded while shielding the most vulnerable from the worst impacts of the energy shock. It is fair to say that the measures taken by the Government are to support the sectors most adversely affected and those at risk of fuel poverty. Public funds are not infinite, nor should they be spent on uncosted general measures as Sinn Féin has suggested in its motion.
I will not go through the list of supports that the Government has announced, between the initial announcement over three weeks ago and the most recent announcement voted on in the past hour. The overall cost of the Government-supported packages is in the region of €750 million. As I said already, it is per capita the biggest and most comprehensive intervention of any country in the euro. These supports are timely and necessary. Just as we said when we made the initial announcement, these supports will be monitored and kept under review. The truth is that nobody on that side of the House and nobody on this side of the House can say with certainty what is going to happen with the war in the Middle East and when we will see a return to the normal production and supply of oil in a global sense. That is why we have to ensure we remain agile and responsive to the needs of the people we are honoured to represent in this House.

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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