John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was just speaking to my colleague, Senator Gallagher, about this issue. It is one of which Border politicians will be very much aware. People coming from a Border area who are involved in business have always had to deal with price discrepancies on either side of the Border. Entrepreneurs in businesses on both sides of the Border have always had to have a certain level of ingenuity to make sure their businesses are operating at a good margin. In recent weeks, I have spoken to a number of people involved in service stations in north Louth and Dundalk. They have been discussing the excise increase and have raised some of their concerns with me.

The Government has taken a three-staged approach under which excise duty on petrol increased by 6 cent per litre on 1 June and 7 cent per litre on 1 September and will increase by 8 cent per litre on 1 November. I know this third increase has been discussed at Government level and I appreciate that there has been much back and forth and engagement with the relevant organisations, but the problem, as is very clear mathematically speaking, is that those increases will make it cheaper for people living in north Louth to drive to the North to fill up. There will be a huge price discrepancy between the price of petrol and diesel in Louth and south Armagh. If someone drives for five minutes, it will be more expensive in Hackballscross. That is the problem, and maintaining equilibrium between both sides has always been an issue in Border areas. We do not want everyone from this side of the Border rushing to the other side to buy diesel and petrol and likewise for businesses in the North. It was the same with food and everything else in the 1980s and 1990s. I want to put that on the record of the House. It is certainly a concern for many people involved in service stations in north Louth and along the Border. I welcome the engagement by the Government so far to try to fix this problem for them.