Offaly TD calls for long term rural mobility supports as fuel costs surge

An Offaly TD has called for long term rural mobility supports as fuel costs surge.

Independent TD for Offaly, Carol Nolan, has said that the concerns raised by agricultural contractors about rising fuel costs and the future of the Fuel Support Scheme underline a wider failure by government to grasp the realities of rural mobility and rural work.

Responding to the call from the Association of Farm & Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) for the entire Fuel Support Scheme budget to remain within the agri sector, Deputy Nolan said contractors are right to insist that the funding must not be diluted or diverted.

She said contractors are facing unsustainable pressure and that without them, core farming and forestry operations simply cannot function.

“I recently met a large number of contractors at the Tullamore Show and all of them mentioned, in one form or another their clear view that government’s approach of treating rising fuel costs as a temporary inconvenience rather than a structural reality that affects every aspect of rural life is no longer sustainable,” Deputy Nolan said.

Deputy Nolan also said that while contractors and transport operators urgently need certainty, rural households and rural workers also need fairness, and that the government must recognise that short‑term subsidies are not viable solutions.

“I think we are at the point when we really should be considering longer term measures along the lines of a rural mobility dividend or a dedicated support payment recognising the unavoidable transport costs faced by rural families, rural workers, and rural apprentices who have no access to viable public transport alternatives or who face long, costly and excessive daily commutes.”

She said this would finally acknowledge that people in rural Ireland cannot simply reduce car use or switch to public transport where those options do not exist.

“Rising transport costs are directly undermining the ability of young people to take up apprenticeships in construction, engineering, and other trades that the government claims are essential for meeting housing and infrastructure targets.

"If ministers want more builders, electricians, plumbers, and skilled workers then they must make it financially possible for young people to travel. A rural mobility dividend would be a practical and targeted way to support apprentices and strengthen the workforce that government policy depends on."