THE TAOISEACH HAS said he doesn’t anticipate fuel rationing in the coming months.

Since the onset of the crisis in Ukraine, the Government has put in place rolling contingency plans for if oil and gas supplies reach crisis point in the winter, which could see essential workers being prioritised for access to petrol and diesel.

When asked about the possibility of rationing, Micheál Martin told reporters today “we don’t anticipate that”. 

“We have to prepare for all eventualities, but we do have NORA [National Oil Reserves Agency] and we have reserves and so on like that.

“So at this stage, we don’t anticipate that, but the situation in relation to Russian supplies of gas in particular to Europe will be a matter of ongoing concern and impact”.

“We currently import a lot of our gas from Norway and the United Kingdom and in terms of oil, we have reserves, but the global situation is very, very challenging. And so we will plan for all eventualities, but we don’t anticipate that at this stage,” he said. 

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He said the Government’s immediate concern is the continuing price impact the energy crisis is having on people.

The Budget in September will look at measures to deal with more medium to longer term issues around costs for people, he added.

The cost-of-living package in the Budget will do “something immediately for people to alleviate pressures in this calendar year and before the end of the year”, said the Taoiseach.