With apologies for the rain in anyone’s resurrected Saint Patrick’s Day parade, the parade returns with the added bonus of sunshine, we have to say there’s no way to hide the consequences of this energy price hike.
His immediate concern that we will pay the rising costs of gas, electricity and transport fuels is rapidly being reported by Irish businessmen that companies could soon be forced into a corner. by the cost of energy and the massive loss of jobs. .
We’ve entered an energy price spiral reminiscent of the first oil crisis in the early 1970s, stoking raw fear for the economic future right here in the country.
So what will the Government do but hope for an early summer?
First, Paschal Donohoe and others, including Eamon Ryan, have been outspoken that the State Treasury cannot create a nonstop stream of subsidies every time prices are high. Good political judgment in the short to medium term is to completely dispel the notion that there are any easy solutions to this problem.
Mr. Donohoe relied on highlights recent government efforts to assist vulnerable citizens and businesses in general. In recent months there has been a €200 subsidy on electricity bills, a cut in excise taxes on petrol and diesel and a one-time addition of €125 for the 370,000 people entitled to a fuel subsidy. , has been paid for this week.
But the finance minister is also a bloodline constituency politician who knows voters have a low threshold of boredom when it comes to the lessons of history. When the misery index goes up, they want action, not informational seminars.
In answering questions about the fuel crisis, Taoiseach advocates looking towards continental Europe. He was at a summit of EU leaders grappling with this a week ago and will attend another such summit next Thursday.
Many of the 27 member governments would be relieved to see some kind of EU-funded response to the issues involved, but they have yet to agree on what form such intervention should take.
French President Emmanuel Macron has gained some support for his proposal to mimic the breakthrough EU mutual borrowing move made in July 2020 to finance the post-Covid economic recovery- 19. Others, especially Germany and the Netherlands, are not interested in that and suggest that other existing funds be used first.
Things were further compounded by the need to remove many of the continental EU economies from their 40pc average dependence on Russian gas, which grew above 50pc in the case of Germany and Italy. There are proposals that are easier said than done to cut Russia’s reliance on gas by two-thirds by the end of the year and completely eliminate it by 2027.
One of the problems with the EU’s role is that the response time frame is quite unexpected, with a report from the commission due before the end of this month but action cited only in May. The odd thing is that when Mr. Martin and his colleagues gather in Brussels next week, they will be under enormous pressure to act a lot quicker.
