There are further calls from government managers for “urgent and targeted action” on fuel costs affecting farmers.
Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary North Ryan O’Meara has called on the Government to take “immediate action” on the increase in green diesel costs since the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East.
O’Meara said he contacted Taoiseach Micheál Marin; Tánaiste and Finance Minister Simon Harris; Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Haydon; and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers on the issue.
He said he had highlighted his concerns about the “unsustainable rise in prices” of green diesel since the outbreak of the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
“I have written to the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Agriculture and the Minister for Public Expenditure to request urgent action to help the farming community and agricultural contractors,” O’Meara said.
“The price of green diesel has risen significantly since the outbreak of war in Iran.
“The current prices faced by farmers and contractors are not sustainable. Tillage farmers are under intense pressure, and as we approach the silage season, contractors will have no choice but to significantly increase the prices charged to farmers,” TD added.
He added that farmer families are contacting him “on a daily basis” about the issue, and that the price increases are “blatantly unsustainable.”
“I have asked senior members of government to take urgent and targeted action,” O’Meara said.
“It is about the financial viability of farming operations this year as farmers simultaneously face rising input costs and falling beef and milk prices.
“Action is needed now to have any chance of offsetting the sudden price increase for consumers,” he added.
He acknowledged the measures already taken by the government to reduce the mineral oil tax on green diesel and reduce the National Oil Reserve Agency (NORA) tax.
He also said that “the truth is that no government” can fully protect the public from the impact of war on global markets.
But he stressed that the continued rise in prices is “particularly harmful to the agricultural sector at the present time and this must be addressed.”
Government TDs
O’Meara is not the only government representative to call on the government to take action on increasing green diesel costs.
His party colleague Erin McGreehan confirmed that she had written To Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Tánaiste and Finance Minister Simon Harris, calling for measures to address rising fuel costs in the agricultural sector.
“I fully realize that the government cannot protect our domestic economy from every external shock,” McGreehan said. “I believe additional measures should be taken to support sectors most vulnerable to increases in oil prices.”
“The current cost of doing business, whether plowing fields, harvesting crops, managing dairy farms or operating fishing vessels, has become crippling,” she added.
