Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has pledged that the Government will do everything in its power to assist society, and particularly the vulnerable, with increasing petrol, fuel, bread and oil heating prices.
In an interview on the Opinion Line, on Cork’s 96FM, Minister Coveney said that he was conscious of soaring rates of price inflation.
“The Government is very aware of it (the problem of rising prices) and is trying to reduce the pressure on households.
"Can you ever remember a time when the Government intervened to reduce the price of petrol and diesel? When the Government gave a €200 credit to every household in the country in terms of their heating bills?
"We will respond to that (prices going up) as best we can. And that is why there were social welfare increases, there were fuel allowance increases, there was a living alone allowance increase, there was a tax package which was targeting low to middle income earners, parental benefit has been extended and increased too."
Mr Coveney said the Government is more than aware of the pressures people are under and is responding to that and will continue to respond to it.
He stressed that there is a “massive focus” on the price of petrol and diesel.
“It is a hugely political issue and I think companies will be under intense scrutiny. And so they should be at a time when price inflation is as high as it is at the moment. We are encouraging the industry to get prices down."
Gas shortage
"We have about nine months of excess supply. Because there are potentially, because of this war, going to be shortages of gas, potentially of petrol and diesel should sanctions continue to intensify against Russia, and if gas or coal or oil were to be cut off in terms of trade from Russia because of sanctions," he added.
"We undoubtedly need to plan for that. We are in terms of securing a supply, but that is essentially what is driving the wholesale price over the last number of days. There are fears around shortages of supplies. No garage should be over-charging at the moment.”
The Minister told host PJ Coogan that he was also cognisant of rising bread and feed prices, given that Ukraine is a massive supplier of wheat both in Europe and across the world.
“In a normal year, 25 per cent of the world’s wheat comes from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia combined and Ukraine is a huge part of that. We can expect to see significant increases in the price of grain and that is why Minister Charlie McConalogue is speaking to farming organisations about getting farmers to plant an awful lot more grain than they would normally."
He said the bigger price point will be feed, mainly feed barley and grain. Ireland imports more than 40 per cent of its feed.
"If you are involved in any works the price of steel is up, the price of timber is up. We are currently seeing about six per cent inflation at the moment," he said.
The Minister said that the EU is showing “remarkable resolve and unity” in terms of its response to the humanitarian crisis in the Ukraine.
“We will also respond together in terms of ensuring countries have the flexibility to look after their own populations.”
