There are further calls from government TDs for "urgent, targeted action" to be taken on fuel costs affecting farmers.

Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary North Ryan O'Meara called on the government to take "immediate action" on the increase in green diesel costs since the conflict in the Middle East broke out.

O'Meara said he has contacted Taoiseach Micheál Marin; Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris; Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon; and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers on the issue.

He said he highlighted his concerns over "unsustainable price hikes" in green diesel since the outbreak of the war involving the US, Israel and Iran.

O'Meara said: "I have written to the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Public Expenditure to request urgent action to assist the farming community and agricultural contractors.

"The current prices facing farmers and contractors are unsustainable. Tillage farmers are being hammered with prices and as we face into silage season, contractors will have no option but to considerably increase their prices charged to farmers," the TD added.

He said he was being contacted by farm families "on a daily basis" on the issue, and that the increases in prices are "blatantly unsustainable".

"I have asked senior government members to take urgent, targeted action," O'Meara said.

"Action is needed now to have any chance of offsetting a knock-on price increase to consumers," he added.

He acknowledged the action already taken by government in reducing the mineral oil tax on green diesel and cutting the National Oil Reserve Agency (NORA) Levy.

He also said that "the reality is that no government" can fully protect the public from the impact the war is having on global markets.

However, he stressed that the ongoing increase in prices is "particularly damaging to the farming sector at the moment and this must be addressed".

Government TDs

O'Meara is not the only government TD who has called for the government to take action on the increasing green diesel costs.

His party colleague Erin McGreehan confirmed she has written to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris, calling for measures to address increasing fuel costs in the agriculture sector.

"I fully recognise that the government cannot shield our domestic economy from every external shock. I believe additional measures should be taken to support the sectors that are most exposed to increases in the price of oil," McGreehan said.

“The current cost of doing business, whether ploughing fields, harvesting crops, running dairy farms, or operating fishing vessels, has become crippling," she added.