Irish households may be faced with fuel rationing in the autumn, warns EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness.
The war on Ukraine has resulted petrol and diesel prices skyrocketing in recent months, which in turn has driven up the cost of living. However, there is currently no good news coming from the EU with no plans on cost of living relief being introduced at this time.
Ms McGuinness said the Commission would be keeping a watching brief for now, while they “may do more” at a future date. Instead of delivering some hope to Irish consumers, she signalled that if the squeeze on fuel continues, then fuel rationing is likely to be introduced.
Read more: Social welfare payments will be bumped up in October
The last time fuel rationing was enforced in Ireland was in the 1970s. It caused chaos at filling stations as people queued for petrol and diesel at the pumps.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror from the Berlaymont building in Brussels, Ms McGuinness said: “We’re trying to make sure that when it comes to increased energy risk in the autumn and winter that we’re ready for it. But then yesterday in Germany the German energy minister said that we need to look at energy rationing, that could be a reality.”
Ms McGuinness said this would be something that would be introduced over the heads of consumers at a political level: “It’s something we try to avoid, but it is a level above the individual, the household, the family, we’re aware of all these issues.”
An EU Commission official indicated to the Mirror that EU chiefs are at the same time working on further relief measures for households if fuel prices keep rising. He said: “we are looking at something additional around energy that would, we hope, tackle the escalating price of energy.”
The Commissioner is not in favour of capping prices on food or groceries: “On food price inflation, some can afford it and many cannot, so it’s again up to the Member states to see if they can target. But the issue of pricing and actually interfering with the pricing of things, not so sure that would be on our radar.”
Ms McGuinness also reiterated that the ramping up of sanctions against Russia by the EU in the coming months will hurt Irish consumers. She said: “there will always be pain when we introduce new sanctions.”
Read next:
Irish taxi fares set to increase in coming weeks along with other major change
Stop using trolleys and other tips to save money on your weekly food shop
Dublin mum-to-be facing homelessness over high cost of living
Elderly forced to take trains to keep warm due to high energy costs
Trick to save up to €7 every time you fill up your tank
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
