George Lawlor: Backs Haulage Rebate, Calls Out Fuel Gouging

The Labour Party supports this emergency legislation. We support the rebate because the haulage industry needs relief and it needs it fast. So we need to act with urgency and a sense of responsibility to the workers and businesses who keep this country functioning. This emergency legislation it's not technical nor distant from the daily lives of people. This is a crisis that has struck at the very heart of Ireland's supply chain. The sudden and severe spike in fuel prices following the attacks on Iran are drastically affecting large swathes of our constituents. I know that it has to be said that the haulage industry is not just another sector in Ireland. It's a circularly system of our economy. Every loaf of bread on a shelf, every medical supply delivered to a hospital, every export leaving our ports. None of it happens without the trucks that are on our roads day and night and in my own county of Wexford this reality is not just in theory, it is central to the economic reality in a county that is home to some of the largest haulage companies in the country. Be it Rosslyr Europort, our agricultural producers, our manufacturing base, Wexford depends greatly on the haulage industry just as every other county on this island does. Thousands of jobs directly and indirectly rely on a functioning, affordable and stable transport sector. When fuel prices explode overnight it is not just hauliers who suffer, it's every family, every business, it's every community in the country that depends on them. But supporting this legislation does not mean giving the government a free pass. It doesn't mean ignoring the gaps, the inconsistencies or the unanswered questions. There is one question in particular that demands an answer. Why has the government chosen to backdate this rebate to January the 1st? What's the difference between the haulage industry and the thousands of homes across the country who have been struggling week in week out for months upon months upon months? We've all heard the stories of individuals and families having to make the choice between food and fuel. Do these people not deserve the same treatment, the same rebate, the same relief? Is their lobby group not as effective or not as influential? If this measure is a response to the extraordinary shock triggered by the attacks in Iran, then the timeline must make sense. Is this simply a date chosen for administrative convenience? The Minister owes this House a clear, unambiguous explanation. People deserve transparency and honesty. There is another issue, one that goes beyond government policy and strikes at the behavior of certain actors in the fuel supply chain. And it's time to call it out plainly. When the attacks on Iran occurred, prices at the pumps rose instantly, not gradually, not cautiously, instantly. We were told that global markets had reacted, that suppliers had no choice, that the increases had to be passed on immediately. Yet now, when prices are falling, when the immediate shock is eased, when we have the fuel industry representatives telling us that it will be some time, as quoted in the Irish Independent this morning, before reductions are reflected at the pumps. Prices going up like the rockets that were falling but coming down like a feather. Let me say this without hesitation, this behavior is unacceptable, it's opportunistic, it's profiteering, it's gouging on the double. You can't have it both ways. You can't raise prices overnight when global markets spike and then drag your feet when those same markets stabilize or indeed when the government intervenes as is happening tonight. You cannot demand sympathy when costs rise and then refuse to show fairness when costs falls and you certainly cannot expect the public to swallow the idea that price increases are immediate but price decreases require time. This house should not tolerate it, the public will not tolerate it and the Labour Party condemns it in the strongest possible terms. Because what happens if we allow this behavior to continue? The government steps in with reductions intended to support consumers at a time of deep crisis but if suppliers delay passing on reductions then that support is not going to the consumers, it's not going to the workers, it's not going to the small businesses struggling to survive, it's going straight into the pockets of companies exploiting volatility for profit. That is not a functioning market, that is not fair competition, that is not acceptable in a country that claims to value fairness and transparency. So yes we support this legislation but we also demand oversight, we demand monitoring of fuel pricing behavior, we demand accountability from suppliers who seem to believe that crisis are opportunities for profit rather than moments for responsibility to assist everyone. Families are not asking for special treatment, they are asking for fairness. Workers who have to commute to work are asking for recognition of the essential role they play in our economy. They are asking for support during this moment of global instability that they did not create and cannot control. We absolutely understand the importance of the haulage industry to this economy. We see the trucks on our roads, we see the goods moving through Rosslare and other ports, we see the livelihoods that depend on the stable affordable transport sector and we know that if we fail to act, if we fail to support this industry, the consequences will be felt far beyond the haulage yards. They will be felt in every corner of every county across the entire country. So yes we have to pass this legislation, we also have to demand answers, we have to demand fairness, we have to demand that fuel suppliers act responsibly and transparently. There is absolutely no way that we can facilitate the Irish, that we can facilitate this. The Irish people will not be taken advantage of at a time when families and individuals across the board are put to the pin of their collar to live anything approaching a semblance of normal existence. I'm glad to hear also the coach and bus providers and operators are included in this, but we also have taxi drivers and people who must meet spiralling transport costs in their businesses. Protection must be afforded to the many sectors who rely on the use of vehicles of all shapes and makes to keep their head above water. We will be supporting this legislation, Minister, but there certainly are answers that need, questions that need to be answered.