Irish government announces fuel supports after protests

Irish government announces fuel supports after protests8 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleGabija GataveckaiteBBC News NI Dublin correspondentPA MediaCrowds protested against rising fuel prices at the start of AprilThe Irish government has announced further fuel supports for some workers and businesses, after nationwide protests in recent weeks.Irish government ministers are insisting the package of supports was being worked on by the government before the protests, which saw many major motorways, as well as the main street in the nation's capital, brought to effective standstill.The Irish government has in recent months cut excise duty on diesel and petrol but the latest package of measures is aimed at hauliers, farmers, agricultural contractors and fishers.Before nationwide protests kicked off, excise duty had already been cut on petrol and diesel - but in recent weeks since the protests, there have been further cuts to diesel and petrol and a package of supports for farmers, hauliers and coach drivers has been promised.The details of this package were laid out by Irish government ministers on Wednesday at Government buildings in Dublin.The Road Transporters Supports Scheme is worth €120m (£104m) and is for hauliers and bus and coach operators.This scheme will be backdated to March and will apply from when average national diesel prices exceeded €1.90 per litre (£1.65) which is being benchmarked at the point at which fuel costs become unsustainable for commercial transport operators.Payments will be graduated and based on the number of vehicles an operator has on their license.Operators who own up to and including five vehicles will receive €1,350 per vehicle; operators who own six to 20 will receive €790 and operators with over 21 vehicles will receive €300.Applications will open in May for the scheme.Second schemeA second scheme announced today called the Fuel Support Scheme is aimed at farmers, agricultural contractors and fishers, costing €100...