Government must avoid 'pouring petrol on a fire that's ready to explode', warns Offaly TD

Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan believes that a September increase in fuel-excise rates by the government will 'pour petrol on a fire that is already simmering and ready to explode into mass protests'.

Deputy Nolan was speaking as uncertainty continues to hang over the government’s intention to proceed with the September fuel excise increase despite escalating warnings from transport, agri-contracting, construction, and small-business sectors.

She said that the government “can have increases in excise duty revenue or it can have industrial peace - but it cannot have both”.

“If the government pushes ahead with these excise hikes, it is choosing revenue over stability. That is not a threat - it is a statement of fact based on what workers, contractors, farmers and hauliers are telling me every single day,” Deputy Nolan said.

She said that it is also vital to remember that baseline annual fuel-excise revenue, even without any further increases in September, remains well over €3 billion.

“So this idea that if the State does not increase excise duties we will suddenly be starved of cash is just not credible. I stood with fuel protestors because they were sounding the alarm long before ministers were prepared to listen. They were warning that fuel inflation was a systemic threat to haulage, to food distribution, to construction timelines, to agri-production, and to the viability of thousands of small operators, and I will stand with them again,” said Deputy Nolan.

The Offaly TD added: “If government insists on squeezing people dry, it will trigger a wave of disruption that will be felt in every county and every sector. This is entirely avoidable. The government must categorically confirm that it will withdraw the September excise increase. The sooner it does so the better.”