The construction sector will be included in the Government's latest fuel support package, the Tánaiste has confirmed.
The Government fuel support scheme, to be announced tomorrow morning, will also be aimed at the agriculture, quarries, haulage, and fisheries sectors.
However, Opposition parties have accused the Government of simply trying to reannounce the measures it agreed a fortnight ago.
Speaking on his way into Cabinet, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris said the Government will put in place a support scheme for "various vehicles and construction sites".
He said the "last thing" he wants to see is "construction slowed down in the middle of a house emergency".
Under the fuel support scheme up to 120,000 farmers and 1,500 full-time agricultural contractors will receive financial aid.
Combined with the earlier excise cuts, the package will result in an effective reduction of €274 in the purchase of 1,000 litres of green diesel.
The payments will cover the months of March up to the end of July.
Some €15m has been allocated to a fuel support scheme for fisheries and aquaculture.
Last night, the Government party leaders agreed that building contractors and quarries would also be covered by a bespoke scheme.
While as many as 50,000 vehicles, including buses, could be eligible for the Road Transporters Support Scheme.
The Department of Transport estimates that an average sized haulage business could be in line for a payment of €16,230.
The Irish Road Haulage Association this morning welcomed the Government fuel supports, saying it was an important step in recognising the pressure faced by hauliers, particularly in light of sustained fuel cost volatility and broader supply chain challenges.
Shocking constraints in oil supply caused by war - Taoiseach
Speaking in the Dáil during Leaders' Questions, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the war in the Middle East has created shocking constraints in oil supply leading to energy price hikes.
Mr Martin told the Dáil that this is bigger than the combined energy shocks of 1973, 1979 and 2022.
The scarce supply of other products such as fertilisers and helium could have impacts on jobs across the world, he warned.
The Taoiseach stated that when pressures are alleviated on hauliers and farmers it will ensure that food gets to the supermarket at an affordable price.
He said that Government does not have money in the bottom of a drawer and he again ruled out a mini-budget.
The severity of the cost of living pressures is evident from a Credit Union survey that showed one third of people intend to cut their energy use, just to get by, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said.
Workers and families are really worried about the time ahead as the Government scrambles around but fails to give households certainty, Ms McDonald said.
"Even when anger boiled into protest you still failed to understand people's lives," she told the Taoiseach.
The Sinn Féin leader reiterated her call for an emergency budget that would contain a permanent USC cut to put €500 back in people's pockets.
Mr Harris said he believed the impact of the Iran war on Ireland "will be felt in the winter".
He said even if "the war ends now, and it hasn't", there will be lots of people around the country calling for supports this winter.
Mr Harris said an energy crisis is "much sharper in the winter" and it is important for the Government to keep "some powder dry".
He said the Government's approach is about striking a balance as people will be asking the Government 'what can you do for us' this winter.
Asked if once-off measures to reduce energy costs would be introduced before the Budget, the Tánaiste said it would be a "foolish government that would rule anything out".
Green diesel plans not direct result of protests - Heydon
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said Government plans to cut the price of green diesel "helps every single consumer in the country" and is not a direct result of the recent fuel protests and blockades.
Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Minister Heydon said the move in addition to fuel support schemes will significantly ease the pressure on the included sectors.
Minister Heydon said they will "off-set the spike in costs as we head into a busy sillage season and with the cereal harvest ahead".
He added in response to a question over whether this is the result of the recent fuel protests and blockades, and whether it is sending the wrong message in terms of how to win supports, by saying his department has been working "for some time" on supporting farm contractors, and that the move "helps every single consumer in the country".
He said this is because "if costs rise then so does food and beyond".
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill echoed that view, saying that while she is "a TD for Dún Laoghaire where there isn't a large farming community" the reality is Ireland is "a whole island economy" and that any support for farmers has a "direct impact on price" and the "high quality food" elsewhere.
Government's response to fuel crisis 'tone deaf' - Doherty
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty said the Government has "again missed the mark" with the new package.
He said the Government "got this completely wrong", adding the fuel crisis has tipped families "over the edge".
He said the Government's response to the fuel crisis is "tone-deaf" to the pressure that "people are under".
"They withdrew cost-of-living supports thinking that the cost-of-living crisis was over, it was far from over," he said.
"Many were struggling, even before petrol and diesel, green diesel and home heating oil went through the roof," he said.
He said the fact that "one in four households can't pay their gas bills" means something is "fundamentally wrong".
Mr Doherty said the package of supports brought forward is the Government's "second attempt" and is not "anywhere near the scale of the prices".
"The Government needs to bring forward an emergency budget without delay. That budget has to include energy credits to help with the cost of electricity, a social welfare package that will support those that are most vulnerable and it has to see cuts to the USC," he said.
People before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said households cannot "take another hit" and that households needed "help immediately because they are unable to pay their bills".
He said around "one in four people are in serious trouble or risk or suffering energy poverty"
Mr Boyd Barrett said the Government is admitting its measures are "not shielding people from cost-of-living misery".
He called for price controls on fuel and energy, free public transport and energy credits of "at least €500".
Labour calls for mini-budget targeted towards PAYE workers
The Labour Party's Ged Nash called for the Government to introduce a mini-budget "targeted at the interests of PAYE workers".
He accused the Government of having "double standards" and that these workers are the "real engine of the economy" and are "being left behind".
However, he said there is "absolutely nothing" in the latest measures for PAYE workers.
"It's now that people need support," said Mr Nash.
Cairns 'extremely worried' by possibility of economic shock
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns said she was extremely worried about the possibility of an economic shock and the impact it would have on the most vulnerable in society.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today With David McCullagh, Ms Cairns said government after government had squandered opportunities to invest in public services.
"At a time when we're seeing such insecurity and such vulnerability, we're still seeing the Government dangling tax cuts months out from the budget a time when we shouldn't be destabilising our tax base," she added.
The TD for Cork South West said supports need to be put in place for households earning under €70,000.
These households should be given a €400 energy credit immediately, she said.
"We need a step change in Government approach and if the Social Democrats was in power we would invest in services that would benefit everyone, such as free GP visits and a genuinely free education," she said.
She said her party voted in favour of government measures for energy supports because it recognised that people needed help.
Ms Cairns added that she supported the right to protest but that she was not in favour of blockading critical infrastructure.
Additional reporting Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
