Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Prior to the war, our rate was 53 cent per litre in excise. It and VAT are the largest element of the tax. We reduced it by 15 cent per litre. There is, as Deputy Verona Murphy knows, a diesel rebate for the haulage sector of a further 7.5%. That brings it down to 33.04 cent, so there are certain areas where you cannot manoeuvre. There are certain areas where you have to stick to the law. We were talking to hauliers to see if there are other ways we can support people through this difficult time.

It is the same with motorists. No-one is pointing the finger or blaming. We recognise people have to take journeys and must have choices. We had to do what we did to try to help with the alternatives. We cut public transport fares by 20% or for those aged under 24 years by 50% to try to help in that way. We will continue to do that but this is not easy. Most of the measures we are going to have to do are probably through the social welfare system and it is not just those on the basic social welfare rates but those on the likes of the working family payment and others. Those families who are not just in receipt of social welfare are the ones we have to particularly target. There was some good ESRI analysis that the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien was informing me about. Those are the sort of targeted supports we are going to have to do in the budget. Many of them may be a one-off because, please God, this war will not last forever but we all recognise that needs to be done and we are doing it, in a variety of different ways.

See this speech in context