Government ministers will meet the agency responsible for the Republic’s strategic oil reserves on Wednesday as the war in Iran poses an ongoing risk to energy supplies.
Oil prices surged to around $115 a-barrel after US president Donald Trump vowed to wipe out Iran if it did not meet a Tuesday deadline on talks to end the war and re-open the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
The Government will meet the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) on Wednesday to assess the risks to the Republic’s energy security, Minister for Finance Simon Harris confirmed.
Imported oil and gas account for around 90 per cent of Irish energy needs, exposing businesses and households to costs arising from the destruction of infrastructure in the Middle East.
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The NORA has reserves enough to meet 90 days’ demand for petrol, diesel, heating oil and other fuels, according to Harris.
“It has done scenario planning and we will have a chance tomorrow to interrogate that,” the minister added.
The Government is not ruling out aid similar to the €200 a-month energy credits given to households to ease the impact of the soaring energy prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, any such aid this time will have to “temporary, sustainable and affordable”, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform cautioned.
The ministers were speaking after figures showed taxes on workers and consumers boosted Government finances in the first three months of the year, but contributions to pension and infrastructure funds left it with a €200 million deficit.
Government revenues hit €29.4 billion in the three months to the end of March, aided by almost €9 billion income tax collected from workers, according to exchequer returns published on Tuesday.
Iran’s cyber-attacks on Irish-based companies and the ongoing impact of conflict in the Middle East
It’s a year on since Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs and host Ciarán Hancock is joined in studio by Aidan Meagher, EY partner and co-head of the geopolitical strategy team; to hear about the impact this has had on Irish exporters and global trade.They also chat about the current market turmoil and an increasing level of cyber-attack on the operations of American companies in Ireland by Iranian interests.In the second half of this week’s Inside Business, Ciarán speaks to Declan Bolger, the chief executive of the Irish Life group, one of the biggest asset managers in the country.Declan gives his thoughts on the State’s new auto enrolment pension scheme, the rising costs of health insurance premiums, and the impact of AI on his sector.He also explains why Simon Harris’s plan to introduce a tax-friendly savings and investment scheme will be an “absolute failure” if only viewed for the wealthy.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.
Spending hit €29.6 billion, which included €1.6 billion transferred to the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund.
The Government established both funds in 2024 to provide for future demands on State finances, including pensions, and environmental and infrastructure projects.
Commenting on the returns, Harris argued that they showed that the Republic faced the crisis sparked by the war in the Middle East with a strong economy and public finances.
“We do approach this better prepared than in the past,” he said. “But no government can fully shield its people from something of this magnitude”.
The returns, detailing Government income and spending in the first quarter of the year, show that the State collected €22.6 billion from taxpayers, €700 million or 3.4 per cent more than during the same period in 2025.
Non-tax revenue of €6.8 billion increased this to €29.4 billion, the returns show.
Workers paid €8.7 billion in income tax in the first three months of 2026, €500 million or 6.1 per cent more than during the same quarter last year.
VAT, paid by consumers on goods and services that they buy, reached €8 billion in the first quarter, €400 million or 5.3 per cent more than in the same period in 2025.
Excise duties dipped €18 million to €1.5 billion in the first three months of the year. Government cut excise on diesel and petrol in response to the crisis, but the returns do not state if this had any impact by the end of last month.
Corporation tax paid by companies on their profits fell €100 million to €2.9 billion in the first three months of the year from €3 billion during the comparable period in 2025.
Those figures do not include almost €1.8 billion paid by iPhone maker Apple in the first quarter of 2025 following an EU court ruling requiring it to pay €14 billion to the Irish Revenue.
These taxes include duties paid on motor fuel, whose prices have risen sharply since the US and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February.
Total spending of €29.6 billion included €19 billion on day-to-day funding of Government departments, and €2.7 billion on capital spending, which includes State-financed infrastructure.
