Pearse Doherty: What's Missing Is Political Will on Fuel
Pearse Doherty addresses the escalating fuel crisis and calls for the Dáil to be reconvened immediately to deliver tax relief on petrol, diesel, green diesel and home heating. He argues the State has funds - citing a 12.5 billion euro surplus last year - and that what is absent is political will to protect livelihoods, farms and businesses.
Immediate demand: Pearse Doherty urges the government to bring the Dáil back on Tuesday and introduce an emergency package of tax cuts on petrol, diesel, green diesel and home heat. He warns that current pump prices and rising costs are pushing households, farmers and businesses to the edge.
Impact on households and farms: Doherty highlights the human and economic toll - from farmers worried about keeping tractors and boats on the road to families struggling with groceries, rent and insurance. He frames the fuel crisis as a direct threat to farm sustainability and local businesses.
Accountability and resources: Doherty points to last year’s 12.5 billion euro surplus to challenge the government’s claim that money is unavailable. He says emergency legislation was produced that would cut fuel and heating costs, but the government chose only a partial measure.
Political consequence: The speech frames the situation as a test of political will: Doherty demands decisive action now rather than delay, calling on ministers to stop treating the crisis as a holiday-period problem and to act in the interests of Irish people and the rural economy.
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It's about livelihoods, it's about businesses that will go to the wall, it's about farm sustainability, it's about people who is pushing their pen to the collar with every cost of living increase that we've seen, from groceries to rents to insurance, you name it, every single thing and now this fuel crisis is putting so many people over the edge. For our part, as Michael said, we've called for the Dáil to be reconvened because this is a crisis and the idea that the government is going to take another week's holiday when people are worried, are they going to be able to keep a tractor on the road or a boat out of the sea or able to drive their lorry tomorrow morning, it's not good enough. You need to get the Dáil back on Tuesday and you need to bring forward a package of measures that cuts taxes on petrol, diesel, home heat now and green diesel and that can be done folks. What is missing here is political will. Last year we made a surplus of 12.5 billion euro so don't anybody tell me that the money isn't there to support farmers, to support motorists, to support families that are hard pressed at the time. What's missing is political will and this government has got their head in the sand. We produced emergency legislation, I put it before the Dáil, that would slash the cost of diesel and petrol, that would cut the cost of green diesel and that would get rid of carbon tax on home heat now. The government went with a half measure and we know where that is. We know where that is. Look at the pumps right throughout the country today. I was travelling down to Galway to the Easter commemoration. You won't find a litre of diesel less than what, £2.50, maybe £2.10 if you're lucky and we see the prices are going up again. So something has to be done but I'm here today, I'm here as our colleagues were in Leeds to stand with you to say that we need action, that we need the government to do the right thing, that nobody should have to be turning up to meetings like this year demanding that our government stand up and protect the interests of Irish people, the land, the bread, the state.
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