Speaking in the Seanad today Aontú Senator Sarah O’Reilly has warned that soaring fuel prices are placing unbearable pressure on farmers, fishers and rural communities, with serious consequences for food security and household costs.
“The surge in fuel prices is catastrophic. Rural Ireland is being squeezed from every direction and our food producers are being pushed to the brink. The reality is if it costs more to produce food, it will cost more to put it on the table.”
Highlighting the scale of recent increases, Senator O’Reilly pointed to a local example.
“At a filling station In Bailieborough we saw diesel rise from €2.09 on Sunday evening to €2.29 the next morning, a 20 cent jump overnight. That kind of increase is simply unsustainable for farmers and small businesses.”
She said Government measures fall far short of what is needed.
“Agri-diesel has gone up by 50% in the last month, yet the Government response amounts to just five cent per litre in reductions. The three cent they’re taking off the price of agri-diesel is more like €2.70 when you account for VAT. Meanwhile, farmers are still paying significant carbon tax on fuel they have no alternative to. It’s a case of giving with one hand and taking with the other.”
Senator O’Reilly continued on highlighting how the carbon tax is ultimately a punitive tax.
“Carbon tax serves no purpose here because there are no non-carbon fuel alternatives for agricultural vehicles. I would love to hear the Government’s answer to this. What other option is available to farmers? You can frame this as a good news story but they’re still paying 17 cent a litre in carbon tax. It’s a complete betrayal.”
“We have fishermen in the harbour who are weighing up if they can afford to take their boat out. To see no targeted measures for fishermen or farmers is a shocking indictment of this Government’s priorities. Protecting the price of food production must be a national priority. That means recognising that fuel is not a luxury in rural Ireland, it’s a necessity.
