GOVERNMENT “MAY WELL” take action on easing the pressure of the rising cost of petrol and diesel on consumers, the Minister for European Affairs said – but cutting the scheduled carbon tax increase would be “the last thing” he’d do.

Minister of State Thomas Byrne was speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics this afternoon.

Just over a week since the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran, the economic effect has been felt here as issues surround access to the Strait of Hormuz, a 21-mile wide sea passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Some 20% of the world’s crude oil is transported through the strait. 

Although much of Ireland’s oil is sourced from the North Sea, the market rate for oil has shot up as uncertainty remains on when shipping through the strait will resume as it had done previously. 

This has been seen in Ireland in home heating oil, but also in motor fuel, with prices per litre surpassing the €2 mark in many forecourts across the country.

Government has been called upon to cut some of the tax and excise levied on motor fuel to alleviate the pressure on motorists. Motor fuel is a heavily taxed good: 65% of the cost of a litre of petrol is tax, while the cost of diesel is 60% tax.

These taxes include excise at a fixed rate, carbon tax, and VAT applied at 23%. There are also two additional taxes: better energy at the cost of 8c per litre, and a 2c per litre tax National Oil Reserves Agency (Nora) levy.

In the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as fuel prices climbed, Government announced it would be cutting the excise by 20c on petrol and 15c on diesel for a number of months.

Carbon tax is set to increase on 1 May to from €63.50 per tonne to €71.

Minister of State for European Affairs & Defence @ThomasByrneTD on the whether the government would postpone the April Carbon Tax Increase

RTÉ's The Week in Politics will rebroadcast tonight at 11:00pm on @RTEOne and 10:00pm on the RTÉ News Channel#RTETWIP #Carbontax #fuel pic.twitter.com/g3oGYsiWm9

— The Week in Politics (@rtetwip) March 8, 2026

Today, Byrne said: “It may well be that the Government will take action. I think the Government is going to look carefully at this – clearly, prices have gone up.

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“They may well go up dramatically again, and it won’t just be fuel and electricity, it could be food supplies, etc. This is an extremely serious and probably unprecedented situation that we’re facing when you look at the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz across all the world.”

He continued, “I have to say, if I was doing something, I think the carbon tax would be the last thing I’d want to touch because that funds fuel allowance, it funds the retrofitting of homes, which are designed to help people with their bills and reduce bills.”

He said Government will look at the issue over the next week or so and see how the situation develops.

“I think the Government is open to examine supports that we could give, but there need to be supports that people will directly benefit from.”

He said he thinks Government is “entitled” to have a few days to examine the situation before it takes action, and said the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has been asked to investigate the fuel hikes.