19 fuel trucks leave Whitegate oil refinery on Sunday morning

Nineteen trucks of fuel left Whitegate oil refinery on Sunday morning, with approximately 40 more due to leave by lunchtime.

Fuels For Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartlan said it is not yet possible to establish how many service stations will remain out of fuel but said that original projections of 1,000 stations being empty by the end of the weekend are now unlikely.

Mr McPartlan said it is expected that Whitegate will be operating at full capacity on Monday but that the clearance operation in Galway was still under way on Sunday morning, while no efforts had yet been made to end the blockade at Foynes port.

He warned that it will be 10 days from when all three sites are back up and running before issues with fuel supply are full dealt with.

He pointed out: “The reason it is taking so long is because with drivers hours and regulations, drivers burned up their weekly hours in behind convoys and sitting behind blockades. 

"There have been a number of false starts with drivers going to places and being told they might be able to collect and then being turned around with nothing. So drivers hours are a bit of a problem today.” 

He added : “It is really complex and there are so many moving parts. I am much more optimistic now than I was 24 hours ago. I think there has clearly been a change in attitude from the gardaí.” 

With regard to the Cabinet meeting this afternoon to sign off on a package of measures, Mr McPartlan said: “We hope that there will be some resolution and that the fundamental concerns are addressed. 

"For us, the issue the people complain about is very high fuel prices and fuel prices are very high in Ireland.” 

He called on the Government to set up an expert group comprising of a range of different groups including Fuel for Ireland, road hauliers, agricultural contractors, coach operators, and the environmental lobby to future-proof whatever solution brings the current protests to a close.

He said: “The last time we had a price crisis on fuel in Ireland was in the immediate aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine. That is only four years ago. And in that four years, the Government has caused the price of diesel to go up 26c per litre — that is carbon tax, the better energy levy, the renewable transport fuel obligation, a number of different things.

“I think the Government needs to take a step back, bring an expert group together. We want to be part of it but you also need hauliers, you do need agricultural contractors, you need coach operators, you need the environmental lobby to talk about how we use taxation as a driver for the behavioural change we want. 

"If they set that up as part of the response to this particular issue, then I think we would be future-proofing the solution that we come up with.”