Eye-watering hikes to home-heating oil, petrol and diesel prices hitting Donegal uniquely, say local TDs
Eye-watering increases to home-heating oil and petrol and diesel prices have been raised by local TDs in the Dáil with Sinn Féin’s Pádraig MacLochlainn saying Donegal is particularly affected.
"In a county like Donegal, we are uniquely impacted by these increases in oil and fuel. We rely heavily on home heating oil to heat our homes.
"You cannot work in Donegal unless you have a car or van to get around. Public transport just is not there. We are uniquely affected," Deputy MacLochlain said on Wednesday.
He called for Government action to help homeowners and workers with rising oil, petrol and diesel costs.
"I find it astonishing that we are weeks into this crisis now and there is not a clear indication from the Government that it is going to cut the excise duty and reduce costs at the pump and for home heating oil,” he declared.
Responding to the Buncrana-based TD, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan stated: “The war started on, I think, February 28. We are 19 days into it. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that the Government needs to consider what it is doing in respect of a response to the rising fuel costs.”
Deputy Mac Lochlainn’s colleague Pearse Doherty, speaking later in the Dáil, claimed diesel was expected to rise again by 8 cent on Thursday evening.
"As I left Donegal this morning [Wednesday] I saw petrol stations having to charge €2.17 for a litre of diesel. On the way up, I saw station after station charging €2.10 and €2.05.
"These are all prices above €2. The Tánaiste knows as well as I do, if he has his feet on the ground and knows what is happening, that many of these stations have been told there is a planned increase tomorrow night of 8 cent on a litre of diesel but the Government still refuses to act,” he declared.
The 100% Redress TD Charles Ward concurred that in Donegal people are struggling with high home-heating oil bills and that most people cannot rely on public transport to get around.
“On February 28, 1,000 litres of heating oil in Donegal cost €940. Two days later, that price had risen to €1,015. Today, at lunchtime, the cost of 1,000 litres of home heating oil is €1,650, more than €700 of a difference in just 18 days. It is scandalous and no family can afford it.
“The average family in County Donegal is out the guts of €1,000 a month. How can families be expected to sustain this? Families in Donegal do not have the option of using public transport. It is basically non-existent,” he said.
Responding to Deputy Doherty, the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O’Brien said: “We take this situation very seriously and that is why we will approach this situation in a serious and structured manner. We will bring forward supports next week for households and for businesses in a targeted, structured and sustainable way so we can continue to invest in things like home retrofitting and supports for small businesses, which Deputy Doherty would scrap.”