Minister of State John Cummins has said many of those taking part in recent fuel protests had genuine concerns.

He was responding on Déise Today to comments made by a Government colleague who had referred to so‑called “mob protests.”

Minister Cummins said he has received numerous representations in recent weeks and acknowledged the pressures facing those involved.

“There were genuine protesters, and I have outlined what I believe people were telling us, more than just the fuel and the other elements to it.”

“I engage with constituents every single day, I have friends, I have family, I have colleagues, I have people that I engage with, party members, and they’re very quick to be able to tell you the difficulties that people are facing.”

Blockades of Fuel Infrastructure “Unacceptable”

While recognising legitimate grievances, Minister Cummins said blockades of fuel depots and critical infrastructure crossed a line. He warned that some of the blockades had brought the country close to shutting down an oil refinery.

“We did have unacceptable blockades of our fuel depots, of our critical oil refineries. We were a couple of days away from shutting down an oil refinery in this country, which would have taken a week or two weeks to get back up to production, and all of the implications that that had around home helps not being able to get to people in their homes and offices.”

Government Rejects Claims It Bowed to Protest Pressure

The Government has rejected suggestions that it yielded to pressure from fuel protesters when announcing new cost‑of‑living measures. Minister Cummins said the supports had been in development for several weeks and were not a response to the demonstrations.

He said some may try to suggest the Government caved to demands, but he disagreed.

“Well, I know that that’s the narrative that some would like to put out there, but I absolutely fundamentally disagree with it, because the Irish Road Haulage Association were on your programme, they will say that they have engaged with government since the onset of this war in Iran.”

“They have engaged in terms of the first measures that were introduced by government. They were engaged with government along with the farming organisations and all of the other bodies before there was any protest.”

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