Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that the Government has finally decided to act to cut fuel prices but this marginal reduction in excise duty does not go far enough. A simple look at the prices in forecourts today will tell the Minister that. The reality is that a maximum price cap on fuel must be introduced to stop unsustainable increases in prices. It is the only way the Government can ease the burden on ordinary workers and families in the short term. The level of price increase in recent weeks has been relentless, excessive and shocking, and there appears to be no let-up. Last night, when the Government announced it was cutting excise duty by 15 cent and 20 cent per litre for diesel and petrol, respectively, that saving was quickly gobbled up. Some petrol stations, including in my county of Wicklow, immediately put up their prices by that amount, wiping out any potential savings for customers. What does the Government have to say about this? Nothing; it is just wringing its hands. This really underscores a central problem with the plan. The Government has no way to ensure that any excise cuts are passed on to consumers. Even if the savings were passed on, they would soon be outstripped by price increases that are yet to come.

We all know that due to the barbaric Russian invasion of Ukraine, global energy supply is extremely unstable and prices are fluctuating wildly. The price of fuel is increasing exponentially and will continue to increase, at least in the short term. If the Government is serious about providing relief for ordinary workers, families and businesses, it must implement measures that can work and that will work for longer than just a few hours. This means capping the prices for consumers at a maximum level and using reductions in excise duty and VAT to sustain the prices at that level.

The Taoiseach has been at pains recently to point out that we are in unprecedented times, with a war in Europe for the first time since the Second World War, and that extraordinary measures must be contemplated as we rise to meet the challenge of this moment. I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, particularly in the context of the need for an unprecedented humanitarian response. However, the Taoiseach cannot speak about unparalleled challenges and the need for unprecedented measures and then rely on supposedly immutable VAT rules to justify a failure to respond to this crisis on the scale that is required. EU VAT rules were framed during peace time. We are now dealing with a war that none of us had ever envisaged. The EU must show flexibility and ingenuity in how it deals with this to protect its citizens. If EU approval is needed before the Government acts on VAT then the Taoiseach must make the case for change in Europe tomorrow when he meets other EU leaders at Versailles. Peace time rules should not apply during war and extraordinary measures must be taken to insulate ordinary workers and families from Putin's price shocks.

I listened to the Minister's speech at the press conference earlier today when he announced the package. It was unfortunate that he used the opportunity to accuse the Opposition of engaging in cynical criticism of his plan. It was a trite and lazy accusation and just sought to paint Deputies on this side of the House as being somehow self-serving and duplicitous. I remind the Minister that it was his Government that first mooted a cap, essentially, on prices through the swing mechanism that was in the media this week when he briefed journalists. Using the swing mechanism, excise duty would be cut if prices went above a certain level and would increase if prices fell below that level. In the Dáil earlier, when my colleague, Deputy Shortall, asked the Taoiseach if a swing mechanism was still under consideration, he failed to answer. If the Government has abandoned this approach, it needs to come clean and say so.

The Government must also act on the reports of price gouging that have proliferated in recent weeks. Price increases in the main are due to geopolitical issues that go far beyond anyone's control in this country. However, there may be an element in this country seeking to profiteer on the disaster and manipulate prices even further upwards. Some of the pricing on forecourts today would suggest that is the case. If the Government does not want to do anything about allegations of price gouging, some part of the State apparatus should. I raised this with the Taoiseach yesterday and he agreed and said he was concerned about it, but there has been no action forthcoming. If the Government and Taoiseach are not prepared to take action, I will. I have written to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to ask that it investigate reports of cartel behaviour and price-fixing by motor fuel suppliers in the wholesale and retail markets. We cannot tolerate a situation whereby price gouging of ordinary workers and families who are already barely keeping their heads above water is allowed to continue in full view of everyone.

There are other actions the Government could take immediately. The 20% cut to public transport fares should be brought forward to encourage people out of their cars and to facilitate them to use public transport. The Government should also consider incentivising off-peak travel with further cuts in fares at off-peak times so that trams, trains and buses are not over capacity during rush hour. There are many areas in our country, particularly rural areas, that do not even have the option of public transport.

In the medium and long term, this crisis has underscored the need for us to wean ourselves off our dangerous addiction to fossil fuels. In that regard, I am very concerned at the slow pace of expanding our offshore wind capacity and retrofitting programmes. No Government has ever met the climate targets that have been set in this country. Successive Governments have failed to do what they promised when it comes to climate action. We have not seen a speeding up of the implementation of these things to date. The Government downplayed the decision last year of a huge global player, Equinor, to abandon its partnership in offshore wind projects with the ESB. Part of the reason for it doing so was our labyrinthine planning and regulatory framework. There has been little progress in reforming those processes. While the Maritime Area Planning Act has been passed, we are told that it will take at least another year to make provisions of that Act operable. Meanwhile, Ireland, which should be a global leader in offshore wind energy, is being left behind as companies decide to invest in other, better prepared jurisdictions.

If empty Government promises and jaded Ministerial rhetoric could generate power we would have no concerns about our energy supply. Alas, we need more than bombast and verbosity from the Government. We need it to put plans into action and actually do the work to credibly prepare us for a carbon-neutral future. In the interim, while we deal with this current crisis, we need an approach from Government that will reduce fuel prices for ordinary consumers and businesses. An excise duty cut which has already been reduced to nothing by soaring prices is not sufficient. I know there are Deputies sitting on the Government benches who agree with me on this. I appeal to them to act.

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