'There are no simple solutions': Sligo-Leitrim minister reacts to fuel protests
Frank Feighan says that the Government is listening, but there are no simple solutions as the country deals with what is effectively "a third world war.”
Rows of tractors and large vehicles took to the roads to cause national disruptions across the country in protest of the government's handling of the fuel crisis.
Since February, the price of fuel has increased significantly to over €2.00 per litre for diesel and around €1.85 per litre for petrol, while green diesel is around €1.90.
“People are hurting, and they're hurting at the cost of energy, and we fully understand that,” Franks Feighan, minister for procurement and Sligo-Leitrim TD.
Though he respects everyone's right to protest, he doesn't think these actions are helpful at the moment.
“I've had a few phone calls this morning from people who have been seriously inconvenienced, missed hospital appointments, and I'm just not sure if this is the right approach in the middle of such dangerous times for our economy, but also for our country, and across the world.”
The demands of the protests are not clear, with some calling for a temporary moratorium on the carbon tax, while PRO for the Dublin protest, James Geoghegan has called for a government-led subsidy on the price of Green Diesel.
“We're effectively in the middle of, I suppose, a third world war,” said the TD. “We are being held to ransom by various countries, by various energy supplies, and we have to address that, and we have a robust economy, and we will address, we'll work that, but it's not a simple solution.“
“We are listening,” he said, though he stressed that the situation is not simple, there are no easy solutions, "and anybody who pretends it is, is simply being disingenuous.”
“I think what people need to do is sit down, and a lot of the interested parties are sitting down with the government to understand the complexities, to understand the seriousness of the issue.“
Last week, the Government brought in 250 million in measures to address the price of fuel, including cuts on excise tax, and the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) brought down the price of fuel; however, it is on the rise again as the crisis continues.
Sinn Féin whip, Pearse Doherty, called these “half measures” at a meeting ahead of the fuel protest in Manorhamilton on Saturday night.
“Collectively we need to push the Government into action because this is about businesses that will go to the wall, farm sustainability, about people who are pushed to the pin of their collar,” he said before calling for the Dáil to be reconvened from its Easter holiday.