AN TAOISEACH Micheál Martin has issued a response to Clare TD Timmy Dooley (FF) who brought a motion by Clare County Council on the current cost of living to his attention.
The Fianna Fáil leader stated in a letter that he recognised the impact that rising fuel costs were having on households and businesses.
Mr Martin was writing in response to a motion passed by Clare County Council where they expressed concern over new cost of living measures introduced by the government.
The motion stated that the local authority “the package unveiled does not meet the needs or wishes of the Irish people. This council calls on the government to bring forward a fair and comprehensive cost of living package that delivers meaningful relief for households, workers, farmers and businesses”.
The Mountshannon native passed this on to the Taoiseach on the 13th of May.
In response, the Taoiseach acknowledged the council’s concerns, writing that “The situation in the Middle East remains volatile and highly uncertain and the economic fallout will depend on the depth and duration of the conflict. It is vital that we have the resources to deal with any further worsening of the situation”.
“While we cannot mitigate every increase in costs, I want to assure you that we will continue to actively monitor the situation, and we will remain flexible in our response”, the former Minister for Health continued.
The Cork man made reference to the range of supports put in place by the government, namely the €505 million support package for affected industries and cuts on excise duty on petrol and diesel until July 2026.
Mr Martin also highlighted measures introduced as part of Budget 2026 to ease the cost of living crisis, including “increasing child support payments, extending the Mortgage Interest Tax Relief for a further two years, extending the 9% VAT rate currently applied to gas and electricity bills until 2030 and an increase to the Fuel Allowance rate”.
This comes after the government unveiled several supports as part of a package in response to the fuel protests earlier this April.
Dooley had previously defended the government during these protests, saying on RTÉ’s Prime Time programme that the idea the state had profited from the ongoing fuel crisis was “a lovely simplistic argument that doesn’t bear out. I’m suggesting the costs of doing what is suggested will cost the taxpayer €1bn, there’s smaller money in reserves but there certainly isn’t €1bn a month. We have to be conscious, no politician wants to be a loggerheads with people that are struggling but the reality is we can’t put the finances of the State in a perilous situation”.
