One economist has suggested a mechanism, being considered to help keep fuel prices down, would see taxes raised elsewhere.
John Fitzgerald is adjunct professor in economics at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).
He was speaking amid reports that excise duty on fuel could be reduced if petrol and diesel prices continue to rise.
Such a so-called 'swing mechanism' would see the rate of excise charged drop if costs increase, and rise again if costs go down.
But John Fitzgerald told Newstalk Breakfast the Government can't get around this.
"It sounds as if the proposal is that when prices are really high you reduce the tax, and then when prices go back down you increase the tax back up again.
"We, the people of Ireland, are substantially worse off today than we were three months ago because of what's happening in the Ukraine.
"It's not just the humanitarian costs which are probably going to be the dominant issue.
"The people of Saudi Arabia are charging a huge amount more for their oil, and we've got to pay it.
"The Government can't stop Saudi Arabia making the money out of the oil - and so trying to tell the people of Ireland 'Oil prices haven't gone up', they've gone up.
"What the Government needs to do is what they did really well on COVID - is protect those who are on low incomes, those who would be really badly affected.
"And they should concentrate their resources there, because they're going to need very large resources to deal with the refugee issue".
'Government can't insulate us'
He says the Government is going to need all the money it can get.
"You're talking in terms of billions, will be the cost to the people of Ireland, in terms of taking these people to Ireland and finding some kind of accommodation for them.
"So the Government faces huge challenges, and we the people of Ireland have to pay a huge amount more for our oil and gas.
"The cost has gone up for the people of Ireland, the Government can't fool us: if they reduce the taxes there, they'll have to raise them somewhere else.
"What makes sense is protecting those on low incomes.
"People are going to have to pay an awful lot more for their heating, for driving and for the vast bulk of people it's going to be very painful.
"But the Government can't insulate us from that - they can pretend that it's not happening by reducing the taxes there, and raising them somewhere else.
"But the Government are going to need their money to help the people of Ukraine".
