Excise duty on fuel set to be cut to offset sharp price increases

The Government is likely to sign-off on a cut in excise duty on Wednesday in an attempt to counteract sharp rises in the price of fuel.

Officials are understood to be working on proposals for reducing excise on fuel to alleviate price rises caused by the sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine and the associated turmoil on global markets.

Sources confirmed that the measure would likely to be brought to a special Cabinet meeting on Wednesday and voted through the Dáil either later in the day or on Thursday.

The price of a litre of petrol and diesel passed €2 on a number of Irish forecourts this week.

Senior sources suggested that it is a question of “when not if” measures to counteract this would be implemented.

The Dáil is not sitting next week, as many Ministers will be away on St Patrick’s Day visits, and a reduction in excise would need to be approved by the House before it comes into operation.

Speaking in New York, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said the cost of the significant sanctions imposed on Russia would have an impact on the lives of people in Ireland.

He said, for example, that gas networks across Europe were interlinked in terms of pricing and that if there were shortages of gas, oil or solid fuel there would be a knock-on effect on prices.

Mr Coveney said the Government would try to mitigate against the negative impacts and insisted that the significant sanctions imposed on Russia were necessary responses to the country’s aggression against Ukraine.

Emergency options

Meanwhile, a Government spokesman said after the Cabinet met on Tuesday that emergency options are being examined for accommodating tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees, while a financial stability group of senior officials from the Department of Finance, the Central Bank and the National Treasury Management Agency is meeting every week.

Sources in the Coalition confirmed on Tuesday that British officials, meanwhile, had raised concerns about the open border between the UK and Ireland in the context of different approaches between the two jurisdictions on the admission of refugees.

Irish sources played down the issue, while also maintaining that there have been no discussions about sending weapons to Ukraine.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dáil on Tuesday that the State faces a range of challenges in an uncertain period which most immediately relate to the tens of thousands of refugees expected flee to the State from Ukraine.

“What that means for us domestically - this morning the Government discussed this - is that in the context of a crisis such as the one we are now experiencing, of whose duration we are unsure, we will have to take steps to circumvent normal approaches so as to provide accommodation at the scale required and match it with access to childcare and education, in particular. It will be an enormous challenge at a scale we have never dealt with before,” he said.

A wide-ranging briefing for senior Ministers, which drew on information gleaned from every Government department, outlined the array of risks facing the State as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.

Food security

Cabinet was also warned of the sprawling risks to food security, consumer prices and businesses.

With energy security a major threat, Ministers were told that while Ireland is not reliant on Russia for direct gas supplies, some 12.5 per cent of oil imports come from the country, which could be impacted if decisions are made to restrict the handling of Russian vessels at ports.

Ministers were told that significant increases in electricity prices are on the cards for domestic and business consumers. Russian coal is being phased out at Moneypoint, Co Clare, the State’s only coal-fired power station, and replaced with Colombian imports.

Meanwhile, a partial release has taken place of the State’s 90 day strategic oil reserve. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said last week that Ireland had agreed with the International Energy Agency to release some of its reserves to the global market. Measures to manage demand - intervening in the electricity market if power shortages are a risk - were also discussed.