Michael Fitzmaurice: Green Diesel Hike Will Cripple Housing
Michael Fitzmaurice challenges the government's diesel rebate, arguing it excludes many contractors, farmers and small hauliers and will not reduce housing costs. He warns that steep rises in green diesel make the five-cent rebate inadequate and will push up construction and agricultural expenses.
Rebate exclusions and overlooked groups
Michael Fitzmaurice welcomes support for licensed haulage but highlights that many operators are left out: cattle hauliers, farmers moving their own gear, straw hauliers and contractors who do not hold a haulage licence. He says these exclusions mean the rebate will fail to reach workers bearing the cost of higher fuel.
Rising diesel costs and construction impact
Fitzmaurice details the scale of the price changes: green diesel rises have added significant daily costs to diggers, dumpers and other machines on housing sites, while white diesel has also jumped. He warns the current rebate-tiny in comparison to the increases-cannot be presented as a solution to the housing crisis when machinery costs are rising so sharply.
Pressure on farming and rural contractors
The speech outlines consequences for agriculture and rural contractors: silage harvesters, quarries and contractors face much higher fills and operating costs, leaving farmers with few places to absorb the expense. Fitzmaurice argues the policy is ill thought out and risks serious pressure on rural Ireland.
A call for broader, practical measures
Fitzmaurice says he supports targeted help where it exists but urges the government to reassess the design of the rebate so it covers unlicensed hauliers, contractors and farmers. He frames the issue as both an urban housing and rural economic problem that requires practical fixes rather than token measures.
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Go raibh maith agat. First of all I want to welcome the rebate back for the haulage industry. But the only thing about it is, that's probably for a licensed haulier. What about the person that is a haulier of cattle? You don't need the haulage licence for that. What about a person that owns hardware and has to bring their own gear somewhere? They don't need a haulage licence. Do they get the rebate? If it's like the things before, they don't. What about the straw guy, bringing straw from up the country? You're well aware of that. They won't get it either. So these are the things that need to be looked at. And it's my view in looking at today, while I welcome some things in the white diesel, I just said today, this government has no interest in bringing the price of housing down. Because every digger working right around this country on a housing site today is €120 more per day in diesel. In green diesel. A dumper. You talk about sewers and you talk about doing sewer and water. Every single machine that's working on them sites is €120 more because green diesel has gone up 70 cents and you're giving five measly pence back to them. So don't go telling me that you're interested in solving a housing crisis when you see the likes of that. And think of, in your own counties, in the two years from rural Ireland, the big hems will be sown out in about four or five weeks' time. The silage harvesters. A thousand litres a silage harvester takes. So that's €600 to €700 more to fill that. If you have a big hem, you fill it again at 3.30 in the day. How can anyone stick that? Is there a rebate for them? No. Where's the farmer going to get more money out of? Where are they going to get all this money to pay this contractor? This is ill-thought-out what you have done. I welcome the bits that are good. But my God, in the green diesel. Do you realise that white diesel went up about 50 cents? That's what it's gone up. From about £1.75 to £2.20 or £2.25. Do you realise that the Friday before that guy decided to go bomb on Iran, that green diesel was £0.98 including VAT? It's £1.61 this minute plus VAT. And when I went to school, that's about £0.70 more, at least. Even if you draw the VAT back, it's £0.70 more per litre. It's actually £0.20 more than the white diesel has gone up. And the VAT on white diesel is at 23%, where the VAT on this is at 13.5%. And you think you're great what we're doing today. It's a help for the haulage industry. And I appreciate that. What about the guy in the quarry? Are we going to build houses without quarries? What about them? The crusher? Green diesel. The loading shovel? Green diesel. I don't know what world your economists are in in the Department of Finance. But you will cripple the housing industry alone, if you look at it. And you're definitely going to put damnable pressure on the whole agricultural sector. And you know that. You're from rural Ireland.
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