Businesses in border counties will close if excise duty is increased warns TD

Sligo/Leitrim TD Marian Harkin told Minister for State at the Department of Finance, Neale Richmond in the Dáil that an increase would drive shoppers across the border.

Deputy Harkin was speaking during a Sinn Fein motion on the cost-of-living crisis,

“Fuel prices go directly to the heart of the matter. The average price for a litre of petrol at the pump today is 184.9c and diesel it’s 179.9c. One year ago petrol was 19c per litre less and diesel was 13c less per litre less than today. If we go back further, before COVID, petrol was a massive 58c less and diesel was 63c per litre less than it is now. Minister, when are these prices going to stop soaring?”

“Speaking to people throughout my own constituency and in particular to local forecourt owners along the border it is quite clear that workers and families are not only bracing themselves for the next increase in excise and tax on fuel they're actually dreading it.

“This evening I'm particularly thinking of the man or woman with the van who travels countrywide just to keep the show on the road, of the workers who sometimes have to drive long distances just to get to work because they can't find work locally, of the small building contractors with the van full to the brim of equipment lugging it from one job to the next, of the small wholesalers going from shop to shop selling everything from fish to bread and I’m thinking of the large hauliers travelling the length and the breadth of the country selling their goods.

"These are just some day-to-day examples of people dreading how much the next rise is going to take from their disposable income and what will they have to forego to keep the tank from emptying.

“According to Fuels for Ireland if the Government goes ahead in October with its planned increases in excise and carbon tax, by January 2025 we can reasonably expect that, all else remaining equal, petrol and diesel will be between 20c and 24c cheaper per litre in Northern Ireland than in the Republic.

Increases in fuel prices hit families in rural Ireland harder. If we look at the average number of kilometres driven each year we see that the national average is 16,300 km but if you live in Sligo and Donegal the average is 17,500 km and if you live in Leitrim tomorrow's common it's 19,000 km so that tells you minister that those price increases hit them harder and while I will agree improvements have been made in public transport it's still not cutting back on that mileage because most people still need their cars

Minister, I'm asking you to reverse the increase that was added in April and if you can't do that at the very least abandon any further increases planned for this year.

Responding, Minister Richmond said that the Government would take Deputy Harkin’s concerns into account when looking at the planned price increase scheduled for October.

“The October price increase, if it goes ahead, will mean a lose-lose for everyone, it will result in a loss of disposable income for citizens, the death of businesses along the border and a significant loss of revenue for the State,” Deputy Harkin Concluded.