Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I welcome the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I will be sharing my time with the Minister of State, Deputy Canney. I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the road transporters' support scheme, RTSS. I will provide more detail on the scheme and who the scheme will support . The road haulage sector is of national strategic importance in bringing essential supplies into and around the State, supporting key infrastructure and enabling the maintenance of all economic and social activity in our country. Employment in the logistics and supply chain sector is expanding with over 246,000 people working across diverse logistics and supply chain roles, including nearly 60,000 in the transport sector, according to the 2022 census data. The commercial bus and coach sector is a pillar of Ireland's public transport and tourism sector ensuring urban and rural connectivity and underpinning public and school transport networks. Both sectors have been significantly impacted by a multitude of crises in recent years, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the temporary closure of Holyhead Port. These critical transport sectors have demonstrated remarkable resilience and a willingness to collaborate with policymakers to overcome challenges.

Recent cost pressures borne out of the conflict in Iran represent a threat not just to the transport sector but indeed to our whole economy. Higher prices for hauliers lead to secondary price rises across all sectors they supply and feed into higher prices across our economy. The European Commission has stated that it is essential to contain freight transport costs to limit wider inflationary pressures. This Government has acted quickly and decisively to support our hauliers and public transport providers. On 24 March, the Government allocated €250 million in targeted supports to assist those experiencing real and immediate financial pressure including reductions in excise rates for fuels and increased repayment rates for eligible recipients of the diesel rebate scheme. On 12 April the Government agreed a new additional package of measures to further reduce excise rates on fuel and it announced additional supports for the transport sector and the farming and fisheries industries at an estimated cost of €505 million. In total, this is a package of over €755 million. This is proportionately the largest package of supports provided by any EU member state.

I am pleased to inform the House that the details of the scheme to support the haulage and coach sector have been agreed by Government. I can now provide a detail of its design and implementation. The road transporters' support scheme, RTSS, will be modelled on the licensed hauliers support schemes of 2022 and 2023. They were deployed at the time to assist the sector given the higher fuel prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I can confirm that the RTSS will go further than the previous schemes and will be open to both licensed road haulage operators and own-account sector operators, as well as licensed road passenger operators subject to certain criteria. Supports will also be provided to operators of the TFI Local Link services under contract with the National Transport Authority, and school transport services through the Department of Education and Youth.

Passenger service operators that do not fall under the scope of the supports provided by the NTA or Department of Education and Youth may be eligible for support under this scheme. Applications for support will be considered on a case-by-case basis, which is necessary given the complexity of most passenger service providers' business models where the same operator may provide services under Local Link services, school transport services, and indeed on a commercial basis. The scheme is directed primarily at the road transport sector given its importance to the wider supply chain and to businesses and communities throughout the country. The scheme reflects the immediate need for financial support and the ongoing commitment of the Government to work with the sector to maintain Ireland's essential trade and strategic supply chains.

I commend the representatives of the haulage sector, the coach and the bus operators on the really constructive way in which they engaged with the Government right the way through the course of this year, and they continue to do so, representing their members exceptionally well.

The RTSS will provide direct payments to haulage and coach operators. Payments will be graduated with smaller businesses receiving a proportionately greater level of support. An initial payment backdated from March 2026 will be made to each qualifying haulage or coach operator. The scheme will remain in place for three months and payments will be made for April and May if the national average price of diesel exceeds €1.90 per litre in any given month. The RTSS will also offer support for operators of ferry services to and from our island communities that do not hold a government contract that includes a fuel price variation clause. My Department is liaising with the Department of the Gaeltacht and rural affairs on how to administer this support.

The combined cost of these supports for the transport sector is estimated at €40 million per month. The Minister of State at the Department of Transport and I will administer the scheme. Officials have already begun to develop an electronic application and processing system to facilitate payments under the scheme. We estimate it will take a number of weeks to complete the development of the system itself. Again, we have engaged with the sector on that and it is content with that. This will allow an efficient payment system through an online portal application, which will be a simple application with certain criteria set out around tax compliance and various things like that which are important. Engagement with the European Commission on state-aid rules is ongoing in parallel with the system development. The Department is working towards opening the scheme for applications in the next couple of weeks with payments made as quickly as possible thereafter.

I am sure Deputies will agree there has been some concern that supports will only be provided to licensed hauliers or to hauliers who are members of recognised representative bodies. I assure the House and the sector that the scheme has been designed to support the overall road transport sector to the very widest possible extent. Having said that, a key design consideration of this scheme is the need to avoid over compensation for operators with mixed business models who could otherwise seek support under the fuel support scheme being established by colleagues in the Department of agriculture. A number of key eligibility criteria will apply and it is important to note that eligibility does not mean an entitlement to funding. I would expect that this scheme can support up to about 48,000 operators, which is up from 25,000 in the previous scheme. Each application will be assessed by officials within the Department of Transport against a common set of requirements. Payments will be made to applicants once they can satisfy the necessary criteria. Full details on eligibility criteria and the application process will be made available as soon as possible. We expect that to be within the next week but I will highlight some of the minimum requirements today. As payments will be backdated to 1 March all applicants must meet the following conditions as of that date. They must be a holder of a road haulage operator licence issued by the Department of Transport, or where the applicant is not normally required to hold a road haulage operator licence be an operator whose normal commercial activity relates to the carriage of goods by roads, or be the holder of a passenger operator licence issued by the Department of Transport.

In all cases, only vehicles registered on the Department’s National Vehicle and Driver File database with motor tax paid and a valid commercial vehicle road worthiness test, CVRT, certificate will be eligible for support under the scheme. All applicants will be required to be registered for tax in this State, have a valid tax clearance certificate and be able to demonstrate that their business is an ongoing concern. Declarations and proof will be sought from all applicants and will be verified by the Department.

For licensed road hauliers, supports will be provided for all vehicles of over 3,500 kg listed on their licences as of 1 March. Licensed passenger operators will be eligible only for vehicles listed on their passenger operator licences. Some passenger operators provide services under Local Link or school transport services as well as on a commercial basis. Officials are working with the NTA and the Department of education to ensure that these providers are fairly supported, either through contractual arrangements or under this scheme. The RTSS will follow the same structure as the previous licensed haulage support scheme.

I will go through the amounts. Adjustments have been made to reflect inflation. A total of €1,350 is being given per vehicle for the first five vehicles. An additional €790 per vehicle will be given for the sixth to 20th vehicles, while an extra €300 will be allocated per vehicle for operators with 21-plus vehicles. Based on the Department of Transport’s data, the average licensed haulier has 17 vehicles on their operator's licence. That business would receive a payment of €16,230. In that instance, the operator will receive €1,350 for each of their first five vehicles and €790 for each of their next 12 vehicles.

I will shortly hand over to the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, who will provide more detail on some of measures. Before I do that, however, I wish to reassure the House that the support package has been carefully considered following ongoing engagement that the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, officials and I have had with representatives of the haulage and passenger services. One must take this scheme in the context of the other measures it is coupled with, such as the significant excise duty reductions, the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, levy pause and the increase in the diesel rebate scheme, which is administered by the Revenue Commissioners and runs until the end of July.

By any fair assessment, and to be fair to the sector, this had been broadly welcomed. This is a robust and significant support package for a sector that needs and deserves our support because it is critical to our economy and supply chain.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, for sharing his time with me and for the information he has provided to the House today. I reiterate my support for the sector and thank the representative bodies for their ongoing commitment to address the challenges we are facing in a spirit of constructive dialogue and collaboration. The Irish Road Haulage Association, IRHA, the Coach Tourism and Transport Council, CTTC, and Freight Transport Association Ireland, FTAI, have been working diligently with us and our officials over a long number of weeks to ensure that this support package is brought in and targeted.

As the Minister said in his opening remarks, the haulage sector is of national strategic importance and the road transport sector faces a challenging operating environment. Higher prices for hauliers add costs for each and every person in our country. In the four weeks from 2 March to 30 March, diesel prices at the pump rose by approximately 25%. According to industry data, operating margins in the supply chain sector were about 6% in 2025, with fuel costs accounting for approximately 47% of the operational costs for a typical 46-tonne articulated vehicle. When looked at in this light, even a marginal, sudden increase in fuel costs can represent a significant challenge to the liquidity of operators in the haulage and supply chain sectors. This may be even more pronounced for smaller operators, with nearly half of licensed road haulage operators only having one vehicle.

Small and medium operators constitute the lifeblood of the road haulage industry. As a result, rising fuel costs mean increased costs for everyone in the supply chain. It is vital, therefore, to minimise the impact of these costs on end consumers. The support scheme will support hauliers and transport operators to absorb some of these additional costs and continue to play their vital role in our economy. By helping our road transport sector, the scheme will also help protect consumers who otherwise would face increased costs across a range of everyday goods and services were the transport sector forced to pass on fuel cost increases to their customers.

I know that Deputies want to ensure that nobody is inadvertently left out of the scheme. That is a priority for me and my Cabinet colleagues as well. I will outline those eligible for the support scheme. The scheme will be open to both licensed road haulage operators and the own-account sector, subject to eligibility criteria, where the vehicle is used for the carriage of goods by road. Someone will be able to submit an application for heavy goods vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes in their fleet, provided the vehicles were in their fleet on 1 March 2026. All operators looking for support will need to be registered in the State, compliant and operating as a going concern for the duration of the scheme. There is no limit to the number of vehicles for which they can apply for support, but verification checks will be conducted to ensure that applications are only made in respect of vehicles that are actively used by operators in the course of their commercial activities. Verification will also be undertaken to ensure that the commercial activity is related to the carriage of goods by road and that the vehicle is roadworthy and compliant with all motor tax requirements for the duration of the scheme.

As the scheme is primarily directed at the road transport sector, it will not be open to farmers or the construction sector in respect of machinery used as part of their operations that are fuelled by marked diesel oil or green diesel. They may be eligible for support under the RTSS for other vehicles in their fleets if the vehicles are used for the carriage of goods by road and meet all the eligibility requirements. However, I welcome the €100 million allocated for the fuel subsidy support scheme, FSSS, that is being implemented by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to assist farmers, agricultural contractors and fishers in managing the increased cost of marked gas oil. As a rural TD, I know how higher prices have impacted on these sectors. This scheme will support those people to maintain their essential work across the country. Further information on the eligibility criteria will be made available by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and it is expected that applications for support will be possible in mid-May, with payments to follow thereafter.

Although the RTSS is aimed primarily at road transporters, it is important that we also support transport to and from our offshore islands. While the Department of Transport does not look after these services, it is important that the House is aware that the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht supports island communities by providing subsidised ferry, cargo and air services between the islands and the mainland to ensure the continued viability of these communities.

In 2025, there were 25 contracts for subsidised passenger and cargo ferry services. These contracts include a fuel price variation clause, which will be activated in order to support these providers. There are also several non-subsidised ferry services to the offshore islands, many of whom operate on a seasonal basis. It is envisaged that non-subsidised ferry services to the offshore islands may be eligible for support through a similar mechanism. While the application of the fuel price variation clause in respect of the subsidised services is a matter for the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, my Department will work with it to the greatest extent possible to ensure that all service providers are supported.

I will provide the House with some more detail on how we will support the passenger transport operators and school bus providers who are a critical part of our public transport system, providing essential connectivity across both urban and rural areas. These services are not operated on a commercial basis, so time-bound supports are necessary to protect service capacity and maintain continuity across the sector. TFI Local Link services are provided under the public transport public service obligation, PSO, a service managed by the NTA. Contracts under the PSO include a fuel variation mechanism to allow for additional payments to providers in circumstances such as those currently being experienced. The fuel subsidy uplift varies by month in line with the actual change in costs incurred by operators. In many cases, fuel costs for publicly contracted services will be covered, in whole or in part, through State subvention or contract pricing mechanisms.

There are three separate school transport services transporting 181,000 children and young people to school on over 8,700 buses and taxis, covering more than 11,000 routes daily. These services are typically delivered under fixed-price contracts, leaving operators exposed to rising fuel costs with little ability to adjust pricing.

To address this, a temporary fuel variation mechanism will be introduced, aligned with the approach used for other contracted services. Support will be delivered through existing arrangements with Bus Éireann and the Department of Education and Youth and will target operators which are not already compensated for fuel cost increases. Officials from our Department will assist their counterparts in the operation of the scheme where necessary.

Passenger service operators that do not fall under the scope of the supports provided by the NTA or Department of Education and Youth may be eligible for support under the RTSS. Applications for support will be considered on a case-by-case basis. This will be necessary given the complexity of most passenger service provider business models where the same operator may provide services under Local Link services, school transport services or on a commercial basis.

I want to be as open as possible that there may be some overlap between the bus and core supports and the road transport and the fuel subsidy support schemes. Any overlaps are expected to be minimal and are reasonable in the context of our transport business operates. For example, a business that provides agricultural contracting services and has haulage operations may benefit in respect of different vehicles for the road transport support scheme and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine fuel subsidy support scheme. A licensed passenger operator providing bus services to and from piers for island ferries may benefit from the road transport scheme and Department of Rural and Community Development supports.

Licensed passenger operators who provide commercial bus services as well as school transport services may be eligible for support from both schemes in respect of different parts of their business. It should be noted that the Local Link services are provided through identified separate vehicles. These vehicles will be excluded from the road transport support scheme. Therefore, operators of Local Link will not receive support under the road transport scheme in respect of the licensed vehicles used for Local Link schemes.

As the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, indicated, the scheme will run for three months, from March to May. An initial payment backdated to March 2026 will be made to each qualifying haulage or coach operator. Payments will only be made in respect of April and May should the national average price of diesel exceed €1.90 per litre in either month. For the avoidance of doubt, the same payment structure and rates will apply in these months regardless of how much or how little the average diesel price exceeds €1.90 per litre. The €1.90 per litre level is a critical measure for the commercial transport sector, in the experience of the representative bodies, after which many businesses may become unviable. The development of an electronic application and processing system to facilitate payments is under way and applications are expected to commence soon.

In the meantime, my Department continues to engage with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's state aid experts on the notification of details of the scheme to the EU Commission. The European Commission is working on a state aid temporary crisis framework to support the EU economy in the context of the Middle East crisis. Ireland has provided feedback on the proposals and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, discussed the impact of the Middle East crisis on transport in Ireland and the necessary priority measures with other EU Transport Ministers on 21 April. As such, I will provide further information on which state aid framework the road transport support scheme will operate within once officials in our Department and the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment have had the opportunity to review the Commission's forthcoming temporary crisis framework.

In conclusion, I want to reiterate that the Government is acutely aware of the challenges faced by the road transport sector in recent months. The transport support scheme is a wholly necessary support for an industry that is a crucial employer and underpins the broader economy. Together with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and officials in my Department, I will continue to engage constructively with representative bodies not only on recent cost pressures but on other challenges, including driver shortages and decarbonisation. I am grateful for the opportunity to share details of the scheme today. I look forward to confirming the opening date for applications in the coming weeks and I welcome the contributions of Deputies on this important topic.

I would again like to reiterate that the engagement we have had with representative groups started the week that the crisis in Iran began, and has been ongoing since and will continue. It is important that that dialogue creates a basis by which we can face the challenges going forward because the challenges will change as we go along. The other issue is that the complexity of transport, coach and education delivery involves complications in each area. We have developed a scheme that is simple and easy to operate. All of our officials will work together to ensure that the application process can happen as quickly as possible and funding can get out to keep cash flow going for those who need it most.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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The haulage industry is essential to Ireland's economy. It is not just about moving goods; it is about keeping local economies alive. Every shop shelf, building site and farm relies on a local driver and business to keep moving. The sector was already under considerable strain before this crisis. When the US and Israel began their war on Iran, which spread across the region, the pressure became unbearable.

Despite this, the Government sat on its hands four weeks, prevaricating until people were forced onto the streets to make their voices heard. Only then did the Government take action. Still, it only came up with half measures and continued to overlook large swathes of our economy and society. Its measures fell far short. What about the 750,000 households who are reliant on home heating oil? Their prices have skyrocketed by over 70% and the Government had and still has no answers for them. What about the hundreds of thousands of households in energy arrears who are racking up record debt? What about the surging number of households that are having their electricity cut off? Where is the Government's answer to them? They have been abandoned and left out in the cold by this do nothing and out of touch Government.

The truth is that we are living through a moment of unprecedented crisis, with record levels of households in arrears and skyrocketing numbers of people at risk of energy poverty. Yet, with each passing day things are deteriorating. Across the country, ordinary people are doing everything right. They are working hard, budgeting carefully and cutting back whenever they can but it is not good enough. This is no longer about tightening belts because, for many people, there is nothing left to cut. The reality is simple. People are struggling to heat their homes, face electricity bills they cannot afford and are paying more every week for fuel, groceries and the basics of daily life - none of these costs can be avoided.

While all of that is happening, they are being told to wait for the next budget, even though the last did not have anything for working families. They are being told to wait for the markets to settle and to wait for help that never seems to arrive. That is not leadership; it is political failure. When people are forced to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table, the response cannot be half measures and recycled analyses. An emergency requires an emergency response. What we have seen so far simply does not meet the scale of the crisis.

There is a growing disconnect between decision makers and ordinary people. We hear of strong public finances, healthy balance sheets and a surplus but in kitchens and sitting rooms across the country, there is no surplus. Their economy is wrecked. There is only stress, worry and fear about how bills will be paid. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are completely out of touch. This pressure is not only crushing households; it is putting an enormous strain on people and sectors to keep our communities alive. Hauliers are the perfect example. They are the backbone of our local and national economy. Hauliers are essential to every pharmacy that dispenses medicine. A truck is necessary to keep goods moving. These are often small family run businesses, providing stable and secure jobs, especially in rural and regional areas. They support local garages, mechanics, fuel and service providers and when haulage works, communities work.

Fuel is not just another cost for hauliers. It is their livelihood. Rising diesel prices cannot be absorbed forever. When haulage firms are pushed to the brink, the consequences are severe. Jobs are lost, costs rise and ordinary consumers end up paying more. The same is true for farmers. They are under relentless pressure with fuel, electricity, fertiliser and feed costs, all of which have increased sharply. Yet, farmers have little control over the prices they receive and are being squeezed from every side. They are not just producers of food; they are the backbone of rural Ireland, sustaining local economies and, by and large, they spend their money locally. They keep communities alive. When farmers struggle, rural communities suffer and so does our food security.

It is about protecting jobs, safeguarding supply chains and keeping local economies functioning. Supporting farmers and hauliers is not just about special treatment. Acknowledgement alone will not pay the bills.

What is needed now is decisive action. That is why Sinn Féin is calling for an immediate emergency budget. The Exchequer is billions of euro in surplus but in the real world people are counting every cent to be able to afford the basics. People cannot wait until next year. We need a budget now and we have set out what clearly needs to be done. We need energy credits for households, a €500 payment for people with disabilities, a suite of measures to protect the most vulnerable and a permanent cut to the USC that puts €500 back in people's pockets. This must happen now. Ordinary people cannot wait again until the end of the year.

It brings us back to the central issue, that of political choices. A cost-of-living crisis on this scale is not inevitable but how it is managed reflects priorities. It is a choice of whether to protect those who are already comfortable or to stand with workers, families and communities under pressure. Energy affordability is a clear example. High prices are not simply the result of global forces; they are shaped by how systems are designed, regulated and taxed. If energy remains treated primarily as a commodity for profit rather than a necessity, ordinary people will pay the price. Climate action is another area where fairness matters. Measures that increase living costs without realistic alternatives do not change behaviour; they deepen hardship. That transition must be a just one that brings people with it rather than leaving them behind. The crisis is about dignity, about whether people can live decent lives, heat their homes, put food on the table and plan for the future without constant anxiety.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Hauliers, farmers and agricultural contractors are among those who only a few years ago would have been called essential workers. Coach operators, too, are essential for day-to-day life, especially in rural Ireland where public transportation options are sorely lacking. They pick up some of the slack begotten to us by the dearth of inward investment from successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments. They operate on incredibly slim margins. In the face of drastically increasing fuel prices, they are looking to the Minister of State and his Government to alleviate that burden so that they can produce food, transport it and other goods, and help ordinary people go about their day-to-day lives, get to work, school or college, or just go about their ordinary business.

The Taoiseach and the Minister of State seem taken aback when Members of the Opposition continue to raise this with them. The Taoiseach thinks people are failing to realise that the crisis has arisen due to international events outside of his control. The frustration being felt by hauliers, farmers, farm contractors, coach operators and many more is not because they do not comprehend international circumstances; it is because they looked to the Government in response to a cost-of-living crisis on which it has utterly failed them. The price shocks that are felt by the sector have knock-on effects for all ordinary workers and families, even beyond the immediacy of the energy shocks it is feeling itself. The Minister of State is failing them too with his meagre, paltry, half-baked and half-arsed half-measures. What we need now is to see real political intervention that meets the scale of the challenge that we face and that requires an emergency budget immediately. People cannot wait until October. We need to see petrol and diesel made affordable. We need to see carbon tax wiped off home heating oil and green diesel, with not one single cent in increases in carbon tax. We need the energy credits, which the Government callously ripped from people, restored. We need targeted social welfare packages for carers, pensioners and people with disabilities. Struggling businesses and ordinary people and workers need this now and it is no less than what is deserved during a cost-of-living crisis. We need an emergency budget.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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What we are looking at here is insufficient action by Government to deal with the pressure people are under at this point. It is little that they are getting, but they would be getting nothing if it had not been for those protestors who went out onto the streets. I spoke to many of them. Many of those who were out in the Minister of State's own part of the world probably voted for him. I have no doubt that they voted for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in an awful lot of cases. I could not get over the fact of how let down they felt by those they had supported probably over generations. That is the reality. Who are we talking about? We are talking about hauliers, farmers, farm contractors and bus and coach operators, many of whom did not always get any wins in rebate schemes that existed previously, so I would like to think that the schemes being operated will be delivered for them.

Being left out altogether, however, are the regular Joe and Josephine; the 750,000 people who use home heating oil. Nothing is being provided for them - not a penny. We hear the statistics at the minute. Some 19.2% has been the increase in electricity bills over March and April. We know 317,000 cannot pay and are in arrears on their electricity bills. I think 25% of those are in arrears on their gas bills. The ESRI reports - this is historic - that 14% of Irish households in 2024 were unable to afford adequate warmth or energy. Think of that. That is long before we get to the place we are in now. We all accept this is down to the lunacy of Donald Trump being led by genocidal Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu. We understand there are limits to what the international community and the Government can do on that. However, people expect sense here. They expect supports. What are we talking about in terms of supports? We are talking about energy credits to reduce electricity bills. We are talking about cuts to fuel taxes. The Government could go further in relation to petrol and diesel than 15 cent. That is before we talk about the abject failure there has been on green diesel. I cannot get over the fact that kerosene has not been touched in any way, shape or form. We need an emergency budget. Pearse Doherty has said it. Mary Lou McDonald has said it. Many in the Opposition have said it and more will be saying it into the future. We need cuts to the USC. None of this is good enough. We also need the cost-of-disability payment because they are the people the Government has really let down.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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First, we all recognise the integral part the haulage industry plays everywhere across the country. In every community around the country there are so many small haulage companies that are usually working on contracts that are very tight and for which there is tight competition. Many people in this House would understand that. When the companies get that contract they have to fulfil it. Very often, if there is any difference in what their costs are compared with what they were projected to be, they are in trouble. That is where a lot of them found themselves, which led to them going out protesting and pleading for help in recent weeks. I met many of the protestors. Farmers, hauliers and ordinary people who had no connection to any of those industries were also there saying they had to get something out of this. That is the biggest problem with the suite of measures announced by the Government. We would like to get the detail of it. While a lot of it was announced-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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It is on the way.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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-----here today, we have not seen it on paper. It would be very useful to get that. Anything that happens that benefits people is welcome, but the problem is that it has been like pulling teeth to get even this far and we have an awful long journey to go to ensure ordinary people can get any sense they are being looked after in all of this. The one thing I found when talking to people out on the protest was that the change they wanted to see was the price coming down at the pump for everybody, not just for the sectors. They thought everybody needed to get it so that the ordinary people who had to travel to work and bring their children to appointments would all benefit as well. So far there has been little for them. That is one of the problems with this package.

The agriculture industry has also, of course, been acutely affected. The first announcement, which brought down 3 cent off the green diesel, was absolutely laughable. It is welcome that there is a change in that. However, again, it is not this year; it is going back looking at what fuel they used last year and taking five months off that. A whole complicated process has been put in place, which is regrettable. The way to do it is to put it at what people buy today and reduce it for them now. That is what people wanted to see happen. That has not happened. That is one of the most regrettable parts of this. We need to see a mini budget.

We need to see something put in place that will deliver for ordinary people. The USC is a clear area where something needs to be done. It was brought in as an emergency years ago but nothing has happened since then. It has been kept. We are well past that emergency now. The emergency is at the other side to try to remove it.

I wish to make a point regarding haulage. I have had several haulage companies contact me. It is very difficult to get drivers. An awful lot of them are having to bring drivers in from abroad, particularly from outside of the European Union. The immigration portal that has been set up is an absolute disaster. People are waiting months to get processed and they are waiting months even for renewals. Perhaps that is the something the Minister will raise with the Minister for justice because it is a real problem for people apart from the other crisis that we have regarding costs.

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on the supports needed for hauliers and supply chains but also the wider reality facing working people across Ireland. We cannot underestimate how vital the haulage industry is in keeping our society running. Hauliers are the backbone of our economy. They keep food on the shelves, medicines in the pharmacies and goods moving in every town, village and community across the country. When crises hit, it is often the hauliers who are the first to feel it. When global effects of illegal wars and the instability associated with the Trump and Netanyahu started war began to be felt in Ireland in recent weeks, it was the hauliers who were at the cutting edge of the crisis along with the agricultural sector. They raised the alarm early about the spiralling fuel costs and the growing pressures facing families, businesses and workers alike.

I raised this in the Chamber before the protests as in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, I have been contacted by growers who are rapidly facing increasing financial costs. I ask the Minister and Minister of State to consider supports for our growers who use gas to heat their glasshouses. For example, the heating bill of Welgro Produce in Rush will go from €200,000 to €400,000 this year, based on gas prices, which puts their survival in jeopardy. A small number of growers use it and we do not have a large community of growers left. From a food security point of view, we cannot afford to lose them.

The Government's announcement of fuel supports for the sector was necessary and welcome. Without intervention, many operators, particularly small and medium-sized firms, will be pushed to the brink. The Irish haulage industry is overwhelmingly made up small and medium enterprises. Some are family run businesses, local employers and owner-drivers who are deeply embedded in their communities. They are also highly fuel intensive by nature, which means they have been among the sectors hardest hit by the rising energy costs. The Labour Party has called for and welcomed the supports to keep exposed sectors operating during this crisis, including support for hauliers who are absolutely essential to our economy and supply chains.

While immediate relief is essential, we also have to ask ourselves a bigger question. How do we stop Ireland from being exposed to these shocks in the future? What this crisis has shown us very clearly is that we cannot continue stumbling from one emergency package to another while leaving the underlying problems unresolved. Whether we are talking about hard-pressed households or exposed industries, the lesson is the same. Short-term supports matter but long-term change is more important. The crisis has illustrated just how important investment in clean renewable energy really is, not just as a climate measure but, more importantly, at this point as an energy security measure and a cost-of-living measure. If we continue to depend so heavily on imported fossil fuels, then workers, farmers, families and businesses will continue to pay the price every time global instability raises its head and drives up the cost of energy. That is why we must strategically invest in the haulage sector and support a just transition for workers and businesses in the industry.

We need to support hauliers in shielding themselves from fossil fuel shocks by accelerating the decarbonisation of the haulage fleet. At the moment, Ireland remains heavily dependent on diesel-powered heavy good vehicles. That leaves our supply chains extremely vulnerable, and businesses exposed every time there is volatility in the international energy market. However, this does not have to be the case. Countries across Europe and around the world are moving rapidly to electrify their haulage fleets. They understand that doing so is not just good for the environment but it is good for economic resilience, supply chain security and long-term affordability. Here in Ireland, the Department of Transport's zero emissions heavy duty scheme, which is welcome, is supposed to be the key tool for supporting this transition. While it is welcome, it could be working more effectively. If we are serious about modernising our haulage sector and protecting it from future crises, then we need to see a far greater investment in this scheme and stronger incentives for businesses to make the switch.

At present, the pace of progress simply does not match the scale of the challenge. Yet we know that where governments take the issue seriously and provide the right supports, businesses respond positively. Hauliers understand the long-term advantages of electrification, such as lower operational costs, reduced exposure to fuel price shocks and greater sustainability. Many simply cannot shoulder the upfront costs alone. They need to be supported. That is why Government leadership matters. While we discuss supports for industries and businesses, we must never lose sight of the people behind the headlines. Ordinary workers are suffering too. Families across Ireland are under sustained pressure from rising energy bills, rising rents and mortgages, rising grocery costs and rising childcare costs. For many households, every week has become a struggle to just make it through. Increasingly people feel exhausted. Working families who do everything right still find themselves falling behind. Carers are stretched beyond breaking point. Disabled people are trying to survive on inadequate supports while dealing with rising daily living costs. Low- and middle-income workers are carrying enormous pressure while feeling the Government response is too little, too late. Many of these people are simply too exhausted to advocate for themselves. That is why we must advocate for them here.

While the supports announced for sectors like haulage are welcome, there are also genuine working people, working families, disabled people and carers who are just about getting by day-to-day and desperately need targeted supports during this crisis. The Government cannot continue to rely on piecemeal and reactive measures. What we need now is a transparent targeted package of supports that prioritises ordinary people as much as industry. We need measures that genuinely reduce the cost of living, strengthen energy security and protect vulnerable households from being left behind. The truth is that a resilient economy is not just one where supply chains survive, it is one where workers, families and communities survive also. If the crisis teaches us anything, it should be that protecting our economy and protecting our people goes hand-in-hand while moving towards energy and food security.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the package of measures under the transporters' support scheme being debated. It is absolutely necessary for this scheme to be rolled out quickly. I note there will be back payments and that it is a short scheme. There will be recognition of any further turbulence in relation to oil markets and the impact that those markets may have on our economy. My background is in haulage, both in the heavy haulage end of it and the parcel end of it. I have seen first hand what is happening to haulage companies. They have gone through the experience of the crash warehousing their debt and their revenue. They have worked away to stay in business to this day. I compliment them on the efforts that they made. Most of those big companies are based on family and commitment from their employees. They are the main employers in some local communities, or they are certainly part of a network of small businesses that create a huge number of jobs in rural Ireland.

The question is whether they deserve the support, and the answer is that they do. Every time there is a price increase and that price increase is passed on, it is the end user who pays for it. It is always the customer of one company or another that has to use transport to get goods and services to the market or the bigger companies that use parcel operators throughout the country to transport their goods or services. That is why I would like the Minister of State to respond, if necessary, to the bigger just-in-time services, particularly those companies that are in Dublin and have a huge number of vans in their fleet, to ensure the parcels they receive, whether business to business, business to household or simply online purchases, are supported. It is hugely important that all those sectors that rely heavily on the cost of fuel be examined and that the State be agile in its response to any issues that might arise for those businesses. I say this because the profit margin in haulage companies is not exactly big. Their profit is heavily reliant on the stability of the cost of inputs and so on. It turns out we cannot rely on that stability any more because of the wars.

It is good to see bus and coach operators there. If we can stabilise their costs, it means those using their services will not face extra costs. It is a sensible approach in the scheme and it is addressing directly the issues that will impact on our economy and on the people who rely on these services.

Expressway formally notified the National Transport Authority that it will not be operating route 4 as and from the end of this month. That will have a huge impact on the travelling public going to hospital appointments, schools, colleges or wherever they might be going for social occasions. To think that service would end without a seamless transition to another service and another bus operator, the mind boggles. It should not be allowed to happen. I have no doubt that part of the problem for the route was the cost of putting the vehicle on the road, the cost of energy and the cost of fuel. It will now be introduced for Carlow to Waterford in terms of a public service obligation but what concerns local communities affected along the route from Waterford to Dublin Airport is the fact they might not have a service or that they may only have a part service because of the public service obligation. I want to put the Minister of State on notice that that is not good enough and we will need a response in time, ensuring the costs affecting that route in terms of Expressway's provision are addressed.

The public discontent about how people were treated during the recent protests cannot be ignored by this House. There was too much inconsiderate language used to described those who were on the protest. The people I met on the protest in Kilkenny and Carlow were ordinary farmers, businesspeople and families who wanted to express the fact that they were suffering badly in terms of the cost of living, the cost of energy, the cost of home heating oil and so on. In Kilkenny, I saw where Philip Ireland, who organised the event, worked closely with the Garda. They provided stewards and there was no hassle. As I said in the House during another debate, it was the first time I saw kids having the space to play hopscotch on a roundabout.

There was a good feeling within that protest, yet there was a sad side to it as well. There were families who were forced to go out in that protest to get their message across to the political system. It is disappointing that those early protestors who asked politely for a meeting were not heard. I am not talking about what happened at the end of the protest. I am not talking about those who were considered to be far right or however they were described. The ones I am speaking about were ordinary people trying to get their message across. It was wrong of Government not to reach out on day one or day two to those sensible people who were making that case.

As we discuss haulage, agriculture and supports for farmers, contractors, the construction sector and others, we cannot ignore the fact that home heating oil is at a level that is hard to explain to the householder. The Government needs to provide answers to that. It also needs to provide some form of intervention as we approach summer and then go into winter to those who are marginalised, elderly or sick, so they will get the necessary supports to fill their tanks without being embarrassed about going for financial supports in different places to buy a drum of home heating oil. I delivered a drum of home heating oil to an elderly constituent. It was a sad day when that happened, to find someone who was elderly and cold in their house but could not fill their tank. If the Government is to respond to the sensible people on the protest, the ones who are really put to the pin of their collar, it needs to address that issue and address it significantly.

I have always stood up for the SME sector and the farming community in this House because they are the backbone of the economy and create jobs. They are spoken so highly of, yet we often turn our backs on them. That is not right. We need to find a way for their difficulties to be communicated directly to Government when action is required. The European Union has let us down in this area. It has not led the debate when it should have.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Every supermarket shelf, pharmacy stock-room and construction supply chain relies on trucks moving safely and affordably across the country. When haulage costs rise, we all pay the price. Hauliers face extreme cost pressures with volatile fuel costs and rising insurance premiums. They are also struggling with the increasing general cost of living alongside the rest of the country.

The Government response has been to offer direct cash payments to haulage and passenger transport operators, with payments ranging from €1,350 per vehicle for small fleets to €300 per vehicle for larger operators, backdated to March and currently time-limited until May at an estimated cost of €120 million. While any support is welcome, the scheme is not enough. It will only provide temporary relief when they actually need certainty and a plan for future-proofing. Probably most important, we have seen from the past month or so that there needs to be strengthening of the dialogue pathways for people.

This sector had to bring the country to a standstill to have its concerns taken seriously. Protest is a powerful tool and an important part of any democracy, but it should not have taken this level of disruption for the Government to listen to people and offer them support.

I hope the Government takes that lesson and works on it, because the protests demonstrated that a huge swathe of our society feels ignored, let down and left behind. What also came across very strongly to me during the protests was that even people who did not understand the pressures on hauliers or contractors supported the protests because they are also experiencing cost pressures in their own lives. They could empathise because they find themselves in similar circumstances.

Although we have these discussions about the hauliers and although the support package is welcome, we cannot proceed in isolation from the fact that many people across our communities are struggling and suffering. We are aware that approximately 317,000 people are in arrears on their electricity bills, many for more than 19 months. These are not people who have mismanaged their finances; they are people who never recovered from the price shocks triggered by global energy crises. Wholesale prices are 72% lower than they were at their peak, in August 2022, but that is not reflected in retail prices.

There are serious questions, which I have raised many times, regarding the regulation of the market and the risk of price gouging. Although the Government has asked the regulator to examine this matter, the CRU has yet to produce a report on it and appears to be taking a very slow approach to transparency in the electricity sector. While this happens, people will continue to struggle to make ends meet.

At the same time, we are told there will be no emergency budget, no price controls and no price reductions. Instead, we hear about future-focused measures such as home-heating upgrades and low-cost financing for retrofitting. There is a place for these measures. They may be useful in the long term, but they will not do anything for those families who are struggling today and are choosing between heating and eating.

The EU has explicitly relaxed State aid rules, allowing targeted price interventions, income supports, tax incentives and even windfall taxes on excess energy profits, yet the Government’s approach is timid. There is no serious push for windfall taxation, no targeted price intervention and absolutely no urgency. The reality is that it took nationwide disruption before action was taken. Even now, the response is reactive rather than planned. This is crisis management; it is not policy.

A report published today by the ESRI indicates that 14% of households in 2024 stated that they were unable to afford adequate heating or pay their energy bills in full, and that approximately 30% of households experienced some form of energy affordability challenge. The report states €480 in additional income is needed annually by those affected in order to exit fuel poverty. The Social Democrats have been calling for a targeted payment of €400 in the form of an energy credit for those struggling the most and households earning less than €70,000. This proposal is very closely aligned with the recommendations in the ESRI report. I ask that the Government take another look at our proposal because, if independent experts have produced a report at the request of the Government indicating that roughly €480 is what people need if they are to be lifted out of energy poverty, a targeted €400 credit would go a considerable way towards addressing energy affordability and poverty.

This crisis has seriously exposed Ireland’s energy insecurity. Despite increased renewable energy generation in Ireland, Irish householders are not seeing the benefits. Much of our renewable output is being absorbed by large corporate users, including data centres, some of which are paying substantially less for electricity than domestic users. I am not sure how the Government can continue to stand over that. Investment in renewables is flowing but people are not seeing the gains. Instead, families are usually exposed to global shocks while policy decisions are prioritising large energy-intensive users.

At the same time, we are sitting on an enormous untapped resource. One million homes in Ireland are suitable for rooftop solar. Just ten panels can save an average household more than €450 per year on electricity bills. That is pretty much the same figure that the ESRI set out as what people would need their electricity bills reduced by annually. This is clearly a very good option or solution.

The benefit of solar is that installation can take a matter of hours, not years. You do not need to carry out major works on your house or move out. It is much simpler. Solar represents one of the fastest, simplest ways to reduce energy poverty and improve resilience to energy shocks. However, there are big upfront costs to solar, and it is not affordable to everyone. That is why we in the Social Democrats have launched our plan Solar for All. This plan would double the rate of grants available to all households. It proposes a €1,000 battery grant for all householders. Free solar installation should be provided for households under the warmer homes scheme, including people receiving the disability allowance, carer’s allowance and fuel allowance. We also need to see the rapid deployment of, or the ability to deploy, plug-in solar, which is very common in Germany and which has been introduced in the United Kingdom. These are very simple measures that we have put forward in our plan. They are simple, achievable and very effective. They would make such a huge difference.

Imagine if the 300,000 homes that currently receive fuel allowance could save €400 on their electricity bills every year? This really is a no-brainer. I raised this earlier with the Tánaiste and he was very positive about working on a solar plan. Indeed, the relevant Minister, Deputy O’Brien, was similarly positive. I am more than happy to work with them on this. I really believe this is the option that can quickly make a difference in people’s homes.

Along with highlighting our energy insecurity, this crisis has highlighted growing vulnerability regarding our food security. Our agriculture sector is deeply exposed to global markets, particularly for fertiliser, fuel and animal feed. We saw this following the invasion of Ukraine, when fertiliser prices surged to record levels, driven by gas shortages and export restrictions. We are now seeing the same thing happen following the ongoing war in the Middle East. Around 30% of fertiliser traded globally travels through the Strait of Hormuz. Fertiliser production is extremely energy-intensive, so when oil and gas prices rise, fertiliser prices rise too. This locks farmers into higher import costs long before any ship is even deployed. These costs do not remain on farms. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Irish food prices have risen by roughly 9% to 10% overall because farmers need to be paid for the work they do and cannot absorb all the costs arising from fertiliser price increases.

While food inflation eased briefly over the past few years, international bodies expect prices will increase by over 30% this year if the disruption persists. Ireland is not a very food-secure country. We import over 80% of the fruit and vegetables we eat. At one point, these imports were of exotic fruits and vegetables that we could not grow in Ireland, but now they include crops that we can and should grow here, such as apples, tomatoes, carrots and onions. We saw a major Irish producer of carrots go into liquidation recently. That sector needs support. We cannot allow it to disappear.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge the men and women who keep this country moving. The Ceann Comhairle knows all about them from a previous life. Our hauliers are not constitutive of an abstract sector in the economy; they are people who deliver every product on every shelf, every medical supply to every hospital and every tonne of gravel to every construction site. They are the ones who collect our waste and recycling material before most of us have even awoken in the morning. They drive through the day and night and in all weathers so the country can function. When they struggle, the entire country feels it. Without them, Ireland stops. It is as simple as that.

In recent weeks, we saw protests across the country. There were many voices involved and many genuine people were present. These are people who are feeling genuine pressure, who are watching their costs rise week after week and who simply cannot afford to absorb another price increase. Their concerns deserve to be heard with respect and without judgment.

I acknowledge the work that has been done by the Government, the Minister, the Minister of State and others. The RTSS and the fuel support scheme represent a really meaningful step forward. These schemes will provide relief for many operators, and I welcome the engagement that has taken place between the Department and the sector.

These schemes recognise the essential role played by hauliers, bus operators, farmers and contractors in keeping Ireland supplied and connected. However, the reality on the ground is that hauliers are still facing a perfect storm in the form of pressures that no single scheme can fully offset. On 1 January last, tolls increased again on some roads where it seems that enormous profits are already being made by the toll operators. We are talking about a 20 cent rise per journey on the M50, bringing tolls to €7.80 return, or €8.80 on other motorways. Many hauliers pass through multiple toll plazas every day. The Irish Road Haulage Association has said the average haulier now pays around €150,000 a year in tolls, with larger operators paying up to a €250,000 annually. This is not sustainable. Is it true that hauliers are legally entitled to a 10% discount under toll bylaws but in practice, they cannot get access to this very easily? Is it true that in order to claim it, drivers must stop at toll plazas every day and buy books of paper passes? That seems unsafe, outdated and completely impractical in the context of modern logistics. If true, it is a discount that exists only on paper. Applying it automatically to prepaid toll tags would be a far simpler and fairer reform that is overdue.

Then there are the new charges at Dublin Port, which include a 5% increase in container prices and a new €15 infrastructure fee together amounting to a 46% rise in the cost of moving containers in and out of the country. Hauliers tell me that this comes on top of a dysfunctional operating system and model at the port, with opening hours that push trucks onto an already congested M50. They described the system as fundamentally unworkable and out of step with major EU ports.

In spite of the measures, fuel costs remain a major pressure. The RTSS is designed to help when diesel exceeds €1.90 per litre and that threshold reflects the point at which many operators simply cannot cope. However, hauliers are not just dealing with diesel. This is a point I have raised with the Minister and I know he is sympathetic to this. Many operators want to use hydrotreated vegetable oil, HVO, and many operators are using it. HVO is a cleaner renewable fuel that can significantly reduce emissions. A haulier in my constituency is very proud of the fact that his company has moved to HVO, but there is no reward for the greening of either his company or his operating costs. Hauliers wants to invest in greener fleets and be part of the climate solution, but HVO is more expensive and, unlike diesel, there is no rebate mechanism to offset the cost. We really need to move on this. Operators that are trying to do the right thing are finding that they are effectively penalised for it. If we want to support decarbonisation in transport, this gap needs to be addressed.

Insurance premiums remain exorbitant. Hauliers in my constituency tell me that they have seen no meaningful progress in tackling the cost of insurance. For many operators, insurance is now one of their single largest expenses. Without reform, this will continue to undermine competitiveness and push smaller operators out of the market. Compliance costs are rising too. New EU rules require hauliers to retrofit smart tachographs across their fleets at significant expense. Operators accept the need for both safety and compliance, but they cannot absorb every single new cost without support. I contrast the support for purchasers of electric cars with the lack of supports for the essential service of haulage.

There is a shortage of drivers. We cannot recruit young Irish drivers because the testing regime has been allowed to fall into dysfunction so it is taking young men and women up to two years to get a commercial licence. Most give up and go to other countries like Australia or Canada where they can work immediately. Meanwhile, the industry is forced to recruit drivers from elsewhere. In that context, the visa process has become a bureaucratic nightmare. This is simply not a sustainable model for a sector that is essential to our economy.

I want to be clear that I support the hauliers and I support the Government in all its efforts to make the daily lives of hauliers easier. I support the workers who are doing everything they can to keep their businesses afloat in the face of rising costs. I support the small operators that are barely breaking even. I support the drivers who spend long hours on the road to keep shelves stocked and supply chains functioning. I want the haulers in my constituency to know that their concerns have been heard and that their contribution is truly valued. I will continue to raise their issues in this House with Ministers and the Government.

The €120 million RTSS and the €100 fuel support scheme are very welcome. They will help, but will not resolve the structural issues hauliers face every day such as those relating to toll systems that are outdated, unfair port charges that are rising faster than margins, insurance premiums that are out of control, a licensing system that is driving young people out of the industry, compliance costs that keep increasing and a lack of support in respect of renewable fuels like HVO. If we want a resilient, competitive and sustainable haulage sector, and all of us do, these issues must be addressed because, as the Ceann Comhairle knows, when hauliers struggle, supply chains struggle, when supply chains struggle, businesses struggle, and when businesses struggle, families struggle. This is not just exclusively a sectoral issue; it is a national economic issue

Ireland needs a haulage sector that is strong, viable and future-proofed. I know the Government and the Minister support this. The people who keep this country moving deserve nothing less. I will continue to work with the Minister of State, his ministerial colleagues and the sector in order to ensure that the supports provided are meaningful, accessible and reflective of the real pressures that hauliers and transport operators face.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I was calling round to people's houses in Dublin Central the other night and met a woman who said to me "Everything's going up. My rent is going up" - she is a Dublin City Council tenant - "The price of petrol is going up. Groceries are going up. Everything is going up except for my wages." She is right. Statistically, that is the case. Prices are up almost a quarter over the past five years and people are really struggling out there. The Government's response suggests that it either does not get it or does not care. After housing costs, one in five people was at risk of poverty or lived in relative poverty last year, with over 300,000 people in arrears on and unable to afford to pay their electricity bills. That was before the coming increases hit. The most incredible statistic, which I say over and over again, is the fact that four in ten parents in this country, which is one of the richest countries in the world, say that they are either going without meals or cutting back on their meal sizes so that their kids can have enough to eat it. It is absolutely scandalous. Many of these people rightly went out to support the fuel protests. There was a collection taken in the flats, and they brought down sandwiches, tea and coffee to the protesters to say "Fair play", because they said that someone was standing up to the Government and calling for action on fuel prices.

If we look at what the Government has given, with regard to the €500 million package, ordinary people get some benefit in terms of reductions of taxes on petrol and diesel with tiny reductions in terms of home heating oil. There is some benefit now, but that could be wiped away tomorrow by Trump's deepening imperialist adventures in the Middle East.

However, the other half of the package is for businesses; it is not for ordinary people at all. The lion's share of those supports will go not to small businesses, which were involved in many of the protests, but instead to the big businesses. That is who the Government is looking out for all the time.

The Government often likes to say in here that the Opposition only has criticism and we do not have any solutions but the key immediate answer to the fuel crisis is something we have been calling for well over two years now. We have had legislation for it for well over two years, which is the idea of price caps and is precisely the main demand of the fuel protestors. The problem is the original measures the Government brought in a couple of months ago were wiped out, as we predicted, by the rise in the international price of oil and what has been done recently can be wiped out again. The only way to give people security and to cut across the profiteering we are seeing, for example, on an international scale with BP, which doubled its profits in the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of last year, is to do these price controls. That is an immediate measure to give people security and to stop the profiteering taking place. That needs to happen.

Workers need to be on the streets to demand that happens and to say we need to have universal measures, not measures that benefit businesses. We need universal measures like price caps, a €500 energy credit to every household and funded by the data centres which are using more electricity than all our households put together and yet are paying half the price of the electricity that ordinary people pay. We also need measures to move us away from reliance on fossil fuels, which is what has put us into this position in the first place, such as free public transport, the rollout of retrofitting, solar panels, free attic insulation and so on. That would move us off the reliance on fossil fuels that the Government has got us into.

However, there is a lesson from the protests which is that unless you can cause significant destructive action, if you are not a fast-food giant, a developer or a major multinational like Google, the Government is not going to listen to you. Workers need to prepare for a massive day of action. Preparation for that will start tomorrow at the May Day protest at 6.30 p.m. at Parnell Square in town but that needs to be just the first step towards a major national day.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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People power works. That is the lesson of the protests. When people get out and protest, and organise and mobilise, they can force a Government that is failing them to make concessions. Trump's war means every single working person in the world is paying an economic price for Trump's blood lust, his imperialism and his support for the Israeli regime. We are all paying now. People who supported Trump a couple of years ago who thought he was a friend of the little person should frankly hang their heads in shame because he has revealed himself for what he always has been: a billionaire property speculator, in with big business, willing to slaughter people for profit and for the billionaire class. Now, ordinary people in Ireland and across the world are paying the price and the hauliers showed us you have to respond when you are screwed by the consequences of this and a system that more generally favours the rich. That is the fact.

The Government made concessions to one group but the widespread sympathy for the hauliers was because huge numbers of other people, who got nothing from the Government's concessions, have been crucified with the cost-of-living and housing crises and are angry about it. They are right to be angry because the fact of the matter is this Government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, represent the bosses and the rich.

I decided get a few figures on the current distribution of income and tax in this country and it really tells its own story. All the workers in this country combined, and there are 3.3 million of them, earn €130 billion. In total, they pay €32 billion in tax, which is 25% of their income. There are 170,000 employers in this country. Guess how much they earn? They earn €318 billion between them, which is more than twice what all the workers earn. How much do they pay in tax? Remember the workers who earn a lot less pay €32 billion. The bosses, who earn €318 billion in profits, which is rising every year, pay €23 billion, about 8% of their income. Workers are subsidising the obscene profits and lifestyles of the rich and these people are profiteering off the cost-of-living and housing misery that ordinary working people are suffering.

That is why workers need to take the lesson of the hauliers and get out on the streets, starting with May Day tomorrow, the trades council march, and building up to the budget next year. We need to do what was done in the tax marches in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the working class of this city and across the country mobilised, fought and demanded tax justice because they are certainly not getting it from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

There is a list as long as my arm of workers who are being screwed. School caretakers, from whom I got messages this week, are first into the school and last out. They are let go at Easter, the summer holidays and at Christmas and they have no pensions. The Oireachtas TV workers, who I will mention again, the people who film these proceedings, are let go. Even though they work for the Oireachtas, they are let go at Easter and every time the Dáil is off, during the summer and at Christmas. Their average earnings are €12,000 and because they have organised into unions to fight for their rights, they are now being victimised and taken off the roster.

I have been highlighting in recent weeks the northside homecare workers who provide homecare to vulnerable sectors of our society who are out on strike because their wages were slashed in austerity in 2009 and they still have not had their incomes restored. They are fighting for a 9% pay increase and are being victimised as well. Shop stewards were suspended this week for organising trade union action. Workers need to get on the streets to fight back.

William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to address the House on supports for hauliers and the wider supply chain sector. Global instability from the Middle East conflict continues to affect international markets. We have seen sharp increases in oil and fuel prices and households and businesses are under sustained pressure, and this has all been well debated in this House. I welcome the Government fuel support scheme announced yesterday. I acknowledge in the House today the work of the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Ministers, Deputies O'Brien, Heydon, Canney and Calleary, who is responsible for the islands. I wish to acknowledge all the work they have done to come up with this package that we have.

The measures announced will provide much-needed relief to those most exposed to rising costs, the haulage sector in particular, which is important in my own constituency of Laois. According to the CSO figures, there were 127 licensed hauliers operating in County Laois in 2022. Figures for own-account operators were not available but, as everyone will know, there are many in each of our counties. In my constituency in Laois, the haulage sector covers construction, agriculture and food haulage, timber transport and the essential distribution networks that keep our shops, factories and communities supplied. As costs rise for hauliers, the impact is felt beyond the industry, triggering knock-on price increases across the economy and adding to the nationwide cost pressures.

Supports for the sector are not only welcome but are critical at this stage. Hauliers have faced a series of cost pressures from increases in vehicle prices, repairs and maintenance. Often, these costs are forgotten when it comes to a crisis like the one we have at the moment, such as CVRT testing and insurance premiums, toll charges and, most recently, a rise in the cost of diesel. These pressures have eroded margins and placed a huge strain on operators, many of whom are small, family-run businesses.

Under the EU mobility package, further challenges are on the horizon. In 2026, a new version of smart tachographs must be retrofitted to light commercial vehicles. All eligible non-European nationals travelling to or transiting through the UK also require electronic travel authorisation.

Hauliers who travel to the North of Ireland have to pay a heavy goods vehicle, HGV, levy when crossing the Border. Each of these measures carries a cost, and together they are a significant burden on a sector already under pressure. Our hauliers are the backbone of Ireland's supply chains day in, day out. They and their staff work long hours to keep the goods moving, maintain employment and support economic life in every county.

The reason these people were on the streets of Ireland was because of the pressures - not because they wanted to do it, but because they were forced. A lot of them were in fear. With the rising cost of diesel, people I know did not know what their future was. A lot of these people, including fellow agricultural contractors, have a lifelong agreement, if you like - or a custom, whichever you like to say - with all of their clients, where they usually get paid maybe once or twice a year. Each year, these people would be in a position to carry that cost but the fear of the increasing price of diesel was running through their very veins, with them not knowing what was going to happen.

These people are passionate about doing the job they do and giving the service they give to people. For maybe two or three generations, they have been going in to do work on the same agricultural land for families. They found themselves in a very perilous situation. They did not know what the price of diesel was going to be day by day, not to talk about week by week. For those people, I am delighted that, at least, we are spending €750 million for them.

A Cheann Comhairle, in a crisis situation, it does not cost anything to talk to people. You must talk to people. I talk to people every day. For every public representative, it is part of the core of their job. It comes from their heart, like mine, to talk to people in crisis. Since I was 19 years of age when I became a public representative, I have been talking to people who, in their situation on that day, were facing their biggest crisis. That is why we, as public representatives, always have to put out a hand of friendship to people. Lessons can be learned from what happened and I believe in my heart that the sooner you talk, the sooner you get resolutions. I hope we have learned from that.

I am encouraged by the words that have come from the Tánaiste and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, regarding renewables. I feel it is something we have to look at for every household in this country. It is something we can do. I do not know, no more than anybody else in this House today, what is down the road for us as regards what we witnessed in the past couple of weeks and months. We saw what happened in Ukraine. Now we have the oil crisis. We do not know what is facing us for the winter. We do not know what is going to happen in the next two or three years. However, one thing we can do in this country is invest in renewables. It would be a great incentive for everybody. It would take the burden, hardship and fear out of people if they could know that they would be in a position to reduce their dependence on petrol, oil or whatever. That is something we need to address and that we need to invest in immediately. Members can see for themselves the rewards that could be reaped from this.

I can remember the shortage in petrol and the big queues in my own town of Portlaoise when I was a very young person, especially down at Conroy's garage. Now, it is an ongoing situation. People do not know from day to day. I still have people who say to me that they wonder what is going to happen when the real silage season cuts in in the next week or fortnight. There is still a fear there. People do not know whether it is going to cost €200 or zero to €200 to put silage in a pit per acre. They do not know what it is going to cost as regards wrapping. We are not only talking about diesel, but plastic. For everything that is associated, all costs are going up.

I spoke to a person the other day who hauls cattle. In my opinion, probably the hardest job that anybody does on the road is hauling cattle. There are thousands of cattle hauled through this country on a daily basis. There is one question I need to have answered, and it is to ensure that cattle hauliers are included in this package. I also wish to ask for the sole trader drawing cattle to be included in the package. I presume they are but it is not there in black and white, and when I do not see something in black and white, I always get concerned. I would like that question to be answered here today.

Going forward, it is important, especially for our young farmers, that we try to persuade them that there is a good living to be got and it is a good job you can do. When we see ups and downs like this, I meet young farmers out there who have done their yearly calculations - or two- or three-year ones, when they are borrowing money to invest in their farms - and, all of a sudden, you now have milk gone down to 37 cent per litre and costs are going up on the other side that they have no control over. It is very difficult.

It is very important, even when we do small steps like giving enough money forward for the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, grants, to put panels on any property available for them. That is a no-brainer in this day and age. Investing that small amount of money is something that the Government will reap bucketfuls back from.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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I will start by welcoming the package. There is no point in saying that the package has been announced and we are against those announcements. It took a long time. It was a huge struggle because people were bitterly disappointed that that struggle had to take place. At least, something has been put in place. I have other concerns but any recognition by the Government that fuel costs are putting serious pressure on transport operators, farmers and fishing is necessary and overdue. The funding envelope is significant and the fact that these supports are being backdated to March will be of some help.

However, welcoming a package does not remove our responsibility to examine how it will work in practice because the detail here matters. While supports are backdated, applications for the road transport support scheme will not open until May. That means operators carry the cost through March and April, paying fuel bills in real time, often on tight margins and with a limited cash flow. Timing is not a secondary issue for a small and rural operator; it is central.

There is also uncertainty about eligibility. The scheme states that the passenger transport operators may qualify. That needs to be clear. The Minister must confirm whether private bus and coach operators who are not part of the school transport scheme are included and, if not, on what objective grounds they are excluded. Artificial insemination, AI, operators have been on to me from all over the country. They are on the road every day. Are they included under some scheme?

For those within the school transport scheme, clarity is equally important. Will support be paid directly to operators or filtered through Department of education contracts? Are operators on fixed-rate contracts fully eligible, partially eligible or excluded? The same lack of clarity applies to Local Link services. Operators need to know whether supports will be paid directly or through contractual adjustments via the NTA.

This package is a step in the right direction but it must be matched with clear, written guidance so that operators know exactly where they stand. A lot of them have told me that they are very concerned this will mean extra work for the accountants. We need the money to get back out there to the people who are delivering these services and are delivering food to our tables. If it does not, the food on the table becomes an impossible task to deliver and at an impossible price.

There is a lot of clarity needed here. This is the sector coming back and telling me and this is what it needs to find out before it can make any future arrangements. Some of these people are going out of business. I know the Minister of State will say to me that the Government cannot control the price of fuel.

Brent oil was $126 a barrel last night, which is an astonishing price. It is down to $114 a barrel now as I speak, I think, again an astonishing price rise compared to where it was before, namely, maybe $55 or $60. I have heard the Taoiseach and Tánaiste say that the Government is giving the most. It is taking the most. That is what they have forgotten. It is taking the most out of people's pockets. There is a projected figure of €9 billion going to be coming into the Government's coffers this year. There is a rainy day fund and, my God, this is a rainy day, as I was saying it to the Tánaiste earlier. Irish people and businesses are on their knees. That is what led to the protests. I know it.

I was at the protests from the moment they started. I even intervened at a protest. I noticed there on a podcast - I do not watch that rubbish but somebody showed it to me - that someone was giving out that Independent Ireland did nothing and we were trying to stop the protest. No, we knew how this could be handled but the Government was not listening and people who did not know what was going on talking loosely on a podcast were not listening either. Basically, there were over 500 people in Portlaoise and my colleague and I got up and asked for negotiation first with the Government. That was done, in fairness, by the protestors. They sent their request. I will not say their set of demands because they were struggling and were in a desperate position. Some of them wanted to go on strike that very evening and the next morning and we said, "No, hold on", and they did. That is how you negotiate. We looked for the reconvening of the Dáil. We wrote to the Taoiseach to act as a conduit with those protestors because he did not want to talk. The whole thing unfortunately spiralled out of control because there was a lack of connection and understanding, a lack of real vision by the Government to understand that these were genuine hard-working mothers and fathers, hauliers, farmers, fishers, coach operators, ordinary hard-working people. They are what Independent Ireland represents, the hard-working men and women who get up in the morning and deliver for this country. When they needed the country to just put out the hand and say it would give them something back, it was swept away from them. That is not good enough. That is just not a caring Government. I know the Government is frantic now and it is trying to create all these little mini-budgets that it said it could not do before.

I am not going to discredit them but at the same time I look across at parties that come in here with a sympathetic ear, like the Social Democrats or the Labour Party, who turn around and tell people they really want something to be done but on the other hand they want to shove on the carbon tax on top of the Irish people. For the love of God, they are talking out of two sides of their mouths. They are not on the same planet as I am, where the ordinary people get up in the morning, work hard, cannot afford an increase in fuel, cannot afford a carbon tax, cannot afford NORA, cannot afford VAT. These parties say that they are supposedly sympathetic towards them, but they have their backs turned on them. Even their leader yesterday wanted to get rid of holiday homes. Jesus, what next? Lord Christ, is it a Communist country we are heading into?

The Government has failed the country in relation to renewables. There is no point in talking about renewables when somebody has to spend €20,000 and they are only getting an €1,800 grant. That is not good enough.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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This is a rip-off Government. The price of petrol, diesel, home heating oil, electricity, groceries, rents, house prices and childcare are all sky-high. The Government plays a significant role in jacking up the prices on all of those. It is hitting families really hard. I know of parents who are lying awake at night trying to work out what bill they are going to be able to pay. People on good wages and in good employment are actually living month to month now on overdrafts. Many families are just one thing going wrong with their car away from not being able to stay on top of their bills. It is not an accident. The Government is making it harder in many ways.

In terms of taxes, the Government is incinerating taxpayers' money with incredible waste. We see the jacking up of rents at the moment because of dysfunctional housing policy and the Government's immigration policies as well. Look at the semi-State ESB. It is making super-normal profits - €650 million last year - while electricity prices here are higher than in practically any other country in Europe. In terms of fuel, the Government is taxing petrol and diesel at the rate of 65% for a staple, not a luxury good, an item that people have no alternative but to use. In respect of the tolls on the M50, we found out they are now collecting €216 million, double what it was just ten years ago. I look at the pittance the Government provides in terms of home heating oil and kerosene. Older people are sitting in the cold regularly for the want of the money to fill their tanks with kerosene, and there is nothing being done. The food situation is incredible. Ireland is now the second most expensive country in the whole of the European Union. It is 15% higher than the average EU price in relation to food. Compared to just five years ago, shopping for groceries costs 40% more. A trolley that used to cost €150 is now €225. People are paying an extra €3,000 a year for exactly the same groceries. Chicken breasts were €5 in 2022, now €12.98. Steak was €10.66 a kilo in 2022 and is now €19.49. Butter is €1 more than it was just a year ago. The price of eggs has increased by 35% since 2021.

Government Members should not shake their heads. The Government has a role in this supply chain in terms of the taxes and tolls it is putting on hauliers and the fact that we have an oligopoly, a small number of supermarkets where there is very little competition in terms of the price of products.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I want to begin by welcoming these statements. They are long overdue. I commend the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and all the Ministers involved in the negotiations over the last weeks. The figures speak for themselves. In four weeks, diesel prices at the pump rose by approximately 25%. For a sector where fuel already accounts for nearly half of all operating costs, that was not an inconvenience, but an existential threat. We are not talking about large multinationals here with deep reserves and teams of financial advisers. We are talking in many cases about sole traders, owner-drivers, family businesses, people who get up before dawn, who keep our supermarket shelves stocked and make sure medicines reach our hospitals and building materials reach our construction sites. Nearly half of all licensed road haulage operators in this country own just one vehicle. If that operator cannot meet their costs, they will have to close down. When they close down, the consequences ripple outward. Higher transport costs mean higher prices for every business they supply and, ultimately, for every household in the country.

That is why acting quickly was not optional, but essential. The road transporters support scheme does exactly what good, targeted policy should do. It is graduated, meaning that the smallest of operators who are most vulnerable receive the greatest proportional support at €1,350 per vehicle. It is backdated to 1 March so that no one is left carrying the costs the State has acknowledged they should not have to bear alone. At €120 million over three months, it is a serious, substantial commitment, not just a token gesture.

I want to highlight something that sometimes gets overlooked in these debates. This scheme does not stop at main roads. It reaches Local Link services, connecting rural communities. It reaches school transport providers and ferries to our offshore islands, communities that depend entirely on these vessels for their way of life. That is a Government that is thinking about everyone, not just those who shout the loudest. This scheme complements the broader package - the excise reductions, the NORA levy adjustments, and the enhanced diesel rebate scheme - demonstrating that this Government is prepared to use every lever available to protect workers, businesses and consumers.

I encourage all eligible operators to prepare their applications when the online portal opens in the Department of Transport in May. The backdating to 1 March means that every qualifying vehicle is already accumulating entitlement. I am actually surprised at the number of small hauliers who are still unaware of the details of the scheme. It is something we need to emphasise in the next few weeks. It needs to be communicated an awful lot better from the top down.

A Cheann Comhairle, if I could mention two other issues, I know you have a long history with the haulage sector and I would be interested to hear your thoughts afterwards on a few of these suggestions.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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No thoughts here.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Going forward, we need to look at the tolling system if we are on about protecting supply chains. I am from Little Island in Cork, which is a large industrial area. We have dozens of haulage companies around the harbour area, coming in and out of Ringaskiddy and the city. Cork is a city that is very heavily reliant on the haulage business. We need to have a look at tolling. In certain countries, there are exemptions for HGVs at certain types of tolls. They look at the weight of the truck and so on. That is something we need to consider in an upcoming budget.

At the moment, if trucks come from Britain or Northern Ireland, there is no additional levy placed on them whereas if an Irish truck or haulier crosses the Border or goes over to the UK, there is a levy of £10 per truck, I think. Levying money on foreign-registered trucks, particularly in the UK, needs to be looked at. Our hauliers are being levied at the moment. If we are talking about preparing the next package for the next shock that will undoubtedly be felt in this sector, we need to look at other ways of being innovative and how to pay them. Such a scheme might be a way forward in how we contribute to the next package.

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I wanted to assure Deputy Collins that I represent the hard-working women and men of Dublin Bay North but he ran out before I could do so.

I welcome the opportunity to speak about the supply constraints we are experiencing as a result of the fuel crisis. Brent crude is now at $114 a barrel, down slightly from $126 a barrel earlier this week but it remains very high. The World Bank expects energy prices to go up 24% this year, the highest level of increase since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, even if the most acute disruptions caused by the war ease in May, and there is no guarantee that will happen. The energy crisis has laid bare our dependency on fossil fuels. The answer is clear - we must get away from fossil and accelerate the take-up of renewable.

While it is welcome that the construction sector is included in the Government's package, it reaffirms how vulnerable construction is to global oil price shocks. That sector must be central to the decarbonisation debate. Construction and the built environment account for over one third of our carbon emissions. Our commitment to new housing is very important and presents a significant challenge in reducing emissions across the sector, as modern building methods are very carbon intensive. Last October, our committee heard from stakeholders in construction about how we could break down barriers to meeting emissions targets in construction. The urgent need to provide incentives to decarbonise construction sites was clear. A big practical gap remains on those sites, in that heavy plant machinery and temporary power still use a lot of diesel, with electric and alternative fuel options not yet viable for smaller organisations without Government support. On-site generators run for more or less the full working day, contributing significantly to emissions. Support for EVs, battery storage systems and HVO-fuelled equipment as alternatives to diesel on site represent a positive short-term step that the Government could take to tackle rising fuel costs and meet our climate objectives.

We also had the haulage industry at the committee. The Ceann Comhairle would have a good knowledge of the haulage industry. What was really clear was that, with the exception of more efficient diesel engines, there was no clear way for long-haul haulage to decarbonise. It is vital that we find a way to do that. Batteries are heavy and have to be hauled long distances. Hydrogen was spoken about as a possibility but we do not seem to be there yet.

We need to recognise the new reality that even if America and Iran each an agreement to reopen that strait, it will take time for the oil market to return to normal. Oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf has been wrecked by all warring parties. Even if it all stops tomorrow, it will take years for that to be rebuilt. Supply will not recover overnight and the burden on households and businesses will persist. We cannot afford to wait for the market to deal with this. The case for accelerating our transition to renewable energy has never been stronger.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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I am delighted to speak this evening. As a rural TD, I have always strongly advocated for the haulage and agricultural sectors, which are interwoven in many respects. The recent protests were a sign that not only was the Government moving in the wrong direction, but it had completely taken its ear off the ground. You need listening skills at all times for effective communication. That effective communication was not there, hence the protests. I stood with many hard-working, decent and genuine people at the protests in Tullamore, Birr and Cloghan where I heard directly from many agri-contractors in particular and small haulage companies trying to deal with the fact that their businesses were on a knife edge, ready to go to the wall. It was a shocking situation that should never have arisen. If the communication, as in listening skills, had been there and if the Government had heeded the warnings, it would not have come to that.

In ten years as a TD, I have never seen anything like the distress it caused to people who were really grappling with many issues. These are people who create huge employment in rural counties like Offaly. It is not fair to do that. With the direction this Government is going, it appears at times that those who work the hardest are punished the most in terms of the haulage, agricultural and construction sectors. I met people from all of those sectors on the protest lines. The Government needs to listen to them. That needs to change and be learned from this.

I commend the IRHA president, Mr. Ger Hyland, who made the case many times in here for the sector. He has also stated many times that the sector is being taxed out of existence. There needs to be a look at how business is being done. Hauliers are an important cog in the wheel of the Irish economy. They need to be supported and listened to. Timely action needs to be taken. It is important that we support the people contributing greatly to our economy. Hauliers are on the road 24 hours a day, 52 weeks a year. Their need for certainty does not disappear because of a war breaking out or a political decision taken elsewhere, yet successive Governments unfortunately waited for a crisis to emerge before taking action. There is a crisis and the Government needs to act. It needs to continuously support these sectors. They are people who create much-needed employment, particularly in rural counties. The warning signs were there in plain sight, such as the chronic driver shortage that the IRHA quantified as requiring 4,000 additional drivers over five years and the punitive toll increases now costing the sector approximately €72,792 a day, with some large operators paying between €20,000 and €35,000 per month. That is unacceptable. I met the senior management of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, last year. At that meeting, I asked about barrier-free tolls at the Dublin Port tunnel to allow trucks to move more freely. The Ceann Comhairle raised this in the Chamber many a time. I commend her for that. It is another example of the Government not listening. It should be able to intervene directly with TII. I met TII already as an Independent TD, so I ask the Government to meet it. Not only should the Government meet it about barrier-free tolls, but it should meet TII about excessive toll charges. This is not sustainable for any sector. The excessive toll charges need to be called out. There need to be immediate meetings with TII to address those issues. No business can sustain that. Hauliers are not asking for favours. They are the lifeblood of retail and manufacturing and rural economies. They pay diesel, tax, VAT, PAYE and PRSI, road tax, tolls and the insurance levy, an unrelenting burden on razor-thin margins. Is that not an example of them being taxed out of existence? When they warned that toll avoidance would push HGVs onto unsuitable secondary roads, wasting millions of litres of fuel, they were ignored - another fine example of practical and constructive solutions put forward all the time but no one listening or taking action. There has to be a change of direction. At times, it feels like the Government has moved so far left that it has left behind businesses and is divorced from reality.