There has been an "avalanche" of "outrageous" fuel price rises across Ireland amid the Middle East conflict, the Dáil has heard.
Social Democrats TD Cian O'Callaghan said the public, who are already struggling with energy bills, are seeing an "avalanche" of price increases coming towards them.
Tánaiste Simon Harris urged people to send examples they have of so-called "price gouging" to the state competition watchdog.
Reports of dramatic increases to fuel costs, such as home heating oil and motor fuel, have been sent to TDs who have raised concerns about the price hikes.
The Government has said that there should be no increase at the forecourts due to the conflict in the Middle East, as there would be a weeks-long lag before prices would be impacted.
Earlier in the week, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said intervention on energy prices was "highly unlikely", but said "pure opportunism" on fuel prices needed to be tackled by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
In the Dáil today, opposition politicians used their time slot during Leaders' Questions to raise concerns about price hikes.
Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan accused the Government of "empty words, meaningless rhetoric, but no action, no meaningful support" and accused the CCPC of being "toothless".
He said: "People are now being charged absolutely extortionate prices for home heating oil, and you’re saying that you’re going to monitor the situation, keep it under review, is of absolutely no use to people who are facing big bills right now.
"The increases are absolutely outrageous," he said.
Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane said in the days since the US and Israel began bombing Iran, and since the conflict had spilled over into other areas of the Middle East, home heating oil had "skyrocketed".
"We are hearing from people right across the country, and in most cases, the price of a delivery has effectively doubled," he said.
Watch: Sinn Féin's David Cullinane said he has heard cases of prices of oil deliveries doubling
"The average price for 500 litres is now just under €800."
He said a household told him that they were quoted €525 for heating oil on Saturday, and "days later" the same supplier was charging €859.
He said a worker said they ordered €498 euro worth of oil at the weekend, and "within days" the same supplier was charging €700.
Another worker said they paid €447 for 500 litres last month and this week the price had jumped to €800.
He said: "When prices jump like that in a matter of days, people draw a very obvious conclusion: somebody is cashing in on a crisis."
Mr Harris said the Government had been working "around the clock" on the Iran issue, including on "economic aspects" but said he first wanted to welcome the hundreds of Irish citizens who had arrived back in Dublin.
He said there was no doubt that the conflict in the Middle East would have a "potential inflationary impact", but he said the scale of the impact depended on the length and depth of the conflict.
He said Government figures had also received "many reports from across the country of what many people are referring to as 'price gouging'".
Coach operators voice concern fuel could hit €2 per litre
Meanwhile, coach operators in Ireland are worried fuel could hit €2 per litre amid a surge in prices here since the start of the war in Iran.
There has been a rapid rise in the cost of motor fuel and home heating oil since the weekend following the spike in oil prices on global markets.
The Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland, which represents commercial bus and coach operators nationwide, said fuel costs for operators have jumped 18% in the last few days.
Managing Director of Wexford Bus and Vice Chair for the Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland Brendan Crowley said that every day that orders are being placed for fuel "we've seen an increase of maybe six or seven cent."
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said that between Monday and this morning the price increased from €1.64 per litre to €1.88.
"So at the rate we're going, €2 per litre is not terribly far away," Mr Crowley said.
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He said the industry has been hit with other charges in recent years, including the pension levy and the pension auto-enrolment, which have "literally driven inflation in the industry anyway".
Mr Crowley said an intervention from the Government is needed "in terms of a fuel variation on contracts like schools and local links and all of those types of services," similar to what happened at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"There's a huge amount of tax being taken on fuel. Even those increases...in per litre this week, it's an extra 5.5 cents in VAT to the Government, as in increased tax take for the Government," he said.
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"So we need to look at rebates, we need to look at the excise duties. There's a lot of charges in there that people aren't aware of," he added.
Mr Crowley warned that a lot of businesses "are just on the edge...and I think this is just going to push them over the edge".
"Our fuel prices have gone up 20%. I think unless there's some change in Government attitude towards it, it means that people will have to consider putting fuel surcharges on.
"That's not really going to be great for trying to encourage people to park their car and use public transport", he said.
Speaking on the same programme, Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke said he will be meeting fuel industry representatives next week to seek out the rationale for the prices increases, because the international markets are telling a "very different story".
He said he wants a "short" investigation by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to examine the "very clear examples in relation to where prices have gone up very significantly".
The minister said Ireland has a robust competition law, "stating very clearly that if there is collusion, if there's unfair practices, if competition law has been breached...that we will take action through the courts, and there's administrative fines which are very significant for those companies."
