Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle very much. I really and truthfully believe that the Government is out of touch on the whole issue of the cost of petrol and diesel and the effect that is having on people. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, said yesterday that there would be no assistance available before October. At the same time he made a disgraceful comment for people to go to the local social welfare office to look for assistance.

The Taoiseach could say that he is not responsible for that statement or for it coming out of his mouth but the Taoiseach gave him the voice and pulled him into Government, so he is ultimately responsible for the irresponsible statement that he made, which I call very ill-judged. There are people today up and down the country who might believe what a Government Minister says and who may think, maybe, that because they are struggling with the cost of fuel and of motoring that they should go to the local social welfare office because a Government Minister told them to do so. That is a highly irresponsible act. There are vulnerable people and those under duress and financial distress who could take that advice on board and go to a social welfare office. That is a disgraceful thing and I ask the Taoiseach to tell people that that is a misleading comment because it is not factual. If one speaks to any social welfare inspector, they will tell you that they have not been directed by this Government to deal with this in any way, shape or fashion.

The Taoiseach knows as much about social welfare as I do. There is a thing called an SWA, a supplementary welfare allowance, which is allowed for in certain circumstances. I can assure the Taoiseach that any genuine man, woman or younger person who will go before a social welfare officer today to say that they were sent by the Minister and asks for help will be told, through no fault of the social officer, that they cannot get this help, that they have no money to do so and that it is not at his or her discretion. I ask the Taoiseach to clarify that here before the Dáil today.

I highlight the fact that a gallon of diesel - for anyone who does not know, a gallon is 4.56 L - costs €9.53. The tax take of this Government on that gallon is €4.20. A gallon of petrol is €9.72 of which the tax take is €4.77. This is totally ridiculous and shameful and our group, the Rural Independent Group, asked the Government last April to stop and to tackle the massive amount of tax that it is taking and to do something about it. The Government voted against us, did nothing and its answers to the people now is to suck it up and to blow it out in bubbles because it will do nothing for them. This is totally ridiculous and unfair. The soaring petrol prices mean that massive revenues are wind-falling for the Government. We hear every day from Ministers suggesting that there is nothing more that the Government can do. This is, however, the same Government which took in more than €300 million in taxes on petrol and diesel alone in April. The Government is benefiting the most from the hardship and the harrowing conditions people have to go through when all that they are trying to do is to survive and to keep motoring and on the road.

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