Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for leaving the meeting earlier but I had to speak in the Dáil Chamber.

In terms of fuel, it all comes down to supply and price. We all got calls about the prices at the pumps. We also got calls from certain retailers who pointed out the issues at play. Mr. Blevings appeared on various media and provided some degree of clarity. It is the case that in the middle of any crisis there will be individuals who try to make use of it.

There are a number of levels and stages in the fuel supply chain in Ireland.

Pricing is straightforward. The witnesses have all said it. The European Commission says that the VAT rate, specifically, can be changed. We will make arguments that it does not make sense to add to carbon taxes at this time, but VAT is the game changer. The price on the market at that point will be taken into account.

There is a question about supply. Companies are making moves and have reoriented themselves. They are getting out ahead of what is coming anyway. The reality is that we are trying to cut off what we can of the money supply to Russia. Another reality is that Russia will find other places to sell. There have been multiple conversations about what the issue with supply is. I previously heard that oil suppliers were saying that they would make use of this period and that oil prices had not been great for long time, so now was an opportunity to make money, whether it is coming from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, or elsewhere. Will Mr. McPartlan go into detail about the interaction that there has been and the varying levels of the supply chain to Ireland? We are talking about diesel, petrol and crude oil, as opposed to gas, which will probably be much more complicated.