Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am here to speak to Sinn Féin's vital motion on the reversal of planned fuel price increases. I thank Deputy Doherty and his team for bringing it to the floor of the Dáil. The rise in petrol and diesel prices is adding to the stress on families during the cost-of-living crisis. Workers are struggling to afford the fuel to get them to work, not to mention students and their families with long commutes to and from schools and universities who can barely make ends meet. Having already added 7 cent and 5 cent per litre to the price of petrol and diesel on 1 September, this Government plans to add insult to injury by adding two increases of 8 cent and 6 cent by the end of October. These planned increases bring the average cost of petrol per litre to €2 and that of diesel to around €1.90, heaping more and more misery on families and workers. Let us not forget the haulage firms and service providers that are the backbone of our economy. Their businesses will be in dire straits with these increases. My staff and I are getting calls from local hauliers and businesses who are facing enormous struggles to keep people in employment due to rising fuel costs. As the Minister of State is aware, this has a knock-on effect on our local economy. Increased fuel costs are adding to the ever-increasing overheads that many small and local businesses already face. In my own constituency of County Kildare, people do not have the option of public transport. All previous speakers have told the Minister of State this. They have to rely on cars to get around. That is the reality of rural Ireland.

Sinn Féin has called repeatedly for Government action on fuel costs to aid struggling families and businesses. I have news for the Minister of State. Fuel price increases will make things worse, not better. He knows that and I know that. The Government must reverse its plans to increase petrol and diesel prices on 11 October and 31 October, and stop adding to an already-crippling cost-of-living crisis. It is the worst cost-of-living crisis we have ever had and the Minister of State is sitting there thinking it is okay to add more to it. I urge the Minister of State and the Government to adopt the Sinn Féin motion and change tactic on this issue.

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