Minister wants fuel aid for construction sector amid house price fears

ENERGY MINISTER DARRAGH O’Brien wants the construction sector to be included in the fuel support package announced last week.

Since the announcement of the half a billion fuel support package was announced last week, other sectors sought to be included.

Sources state that other than haulage within construction, there are no specific supports targeted solely at the sector, but the general excise reductions apply.

The fuel package was intended for critical food production and supply chain transporters, they said.

However, it is understood O’Brien would like to see something done for construction, with indications over the weekend that something is being worked on.

Some accusations have been levelled that Housing Minister James Browne was “asleep at the wheel” when the package was being trashed out as there are concerns that the rising cost of running equipment such as trucks, diggers and plant machinery, which run on green diesel, could ramp up the cost of delivering much-needed housing.

It was a point being made by the CEO of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) Andrew Brownlee this week, who told The Journal that the industry is seeing a rapid rise in costs, which is a concern.

“The raw materials that go into construction: cement, concrete, steel, they’re all generated via fuel intensive processes. So look, if you take cement as an example, it’s gone up 15% in a few weeks.

“The second big challenge is obviously the fuel that that we require to run our plant and machinery on construction sites. So the excavators, the diggers, mobile cranes – that all runs on green diesel. And I suppose we’re a bit disappointed that a lot of the action and excise reduction has focused on white diesel or auto diesel and on petrol.”

Brownlee said the government’s latest fuel support package, costed at €505m, at the moment “seems to really only focus on the agriculture sector”.