Fuel excise may not increase as planned at the end of October, the Finance Minister has said.

Taxes on petrol and diesel were originally cut after the Russian invasion of Ukraine due to the surge in the cost of oil.

Those cuts were due to be revered in three phases – one in May, one in September and the last on October 31st.

That last hike is expected to add 8c to the cost of a litre of petrol and 6c to a litre of diesel.

Speaking at the Fianna Fáil think-in in Tipperary today, however, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said the Government is keeping a close eye on rising fuel prices – which are not far off the levels that prompted last year’s cuts in the first place.

He suggested the October hike may not go ahead.

"At the moment, the legal position is that it goes ahead at the end of October, but we have flagged that we will consider that issue again in the Budget," he said.

"I'm very conscious of where prices are at this point in time."

Energy price cuts

Minister McGrath said energy price cuts from suppliers will also be considered in next month's budget.

"The price cuts are very welcome, and it underlines the importance of waiting until much closer to the Budget before we come to a final view because we will have to take account of what the energy price levels are for the consumer when we make that final decision," he said.

He said the energy credits worked well last year but did not confirm whether they would return for this year's cost-of-living package.

"The energy credits were very effective, we rolled out four in total," he said. "We recognise the value of them for households and we will do the very best we can."

"But it is important also, that we accept the broad thrust of the advice we're receiving – that the economy is pretty much at full capacity at the moment.

"It is in all of our interest that we get inflation down as close to 2% as quickly as we possibly can.

"We just need to be careful as a Government that we don't add fuel to the fire."