Mayo TD accuses Government of making fuel supports difficult to qualify for

Aontú TD for Mayo Paul Lawless has accused the Government of deliberately adding red tape to the fuel support package designed to help farmers and contractors.

Deputy Lawless said nearly a month had passed since the fuel protests and not a single cent had been paid out under the Fuel Income Support Scheme announced to quell them.

"The package of €100 million was announced to great fanfare by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste some weeks ago," he said. "Only in recent days have we learned the finer detail of the scheme, and there are very serious problems with it."

Deputy Lawless said it was his understanding that farmers or contractors wishing to avail of the scheme for a month or two this summer must supply receipts for their entire fuel consumption for the whole of last year.

He said payment under the scheme would then be calculated proportionally based on "assumed usage" in the "impacted period" — a method he described as scandalous.

"We all know that a farmer or contractor uses more fuel during the spring and summer months than in winter," he said. "Basing this payment on the total fuel usage from the previous year means people will still be out of pocket."

Deputy Lawless also criticised the uncertainty around payment amounts, noting that the rate of pay would only be determined once all applications had been counted after the May 27 closing date.

"I believe that the Government has deliberately made this process complicated to deter people from applying for it," he said. "It is a scandal that the fuel support package announced during the protests on April 12 will not actually reach farmers or contractors' pockets until June."

The Aontú deputy also turned his fire on carbon tax policy, claiming that €578 million generated in carbon taxes between 2020 and 2023 was not spent on climate measures and was largely returned to the public purse. He said the fund generated through the NORA levy on fuel had a surplus of €278 million since 2020.

"The Government didn't actually need this fuel tax," he said. "Cutting the tax would be no skin off their noses — they can well afford to do it."