The Government is facing increased pressure to rethink their plans to cut the price of diesel and petrol as one TD believes prices could go as high as €3.50 a litre.
A number of TDs have written to the The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to report price gouging at many forecourts across the country.
The Government moved to cut excise duty on fuel but it was already swallowed up after petrol stations across the country jacked up their prices.
Read More: Ministers warned 'rations on gas and electricity could be needed' as fuel crisis continues
Wexford TD and former head of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), Verona Murphy has called on the Government to completely remove taxes and charges on fuel while the crisis continues.
She said: “What I have called on the Government to do is to abolish, as a temporary, emergency measure, all excise duties, all taxes and all VAT.
“That would, in effect, bring the price of fuel on the forecourt today - be it petrol or diesel, which there is very little difference at the moment - to around the €1 or €1.05 mark.
“You would curb inflation and you would give us a buffer against what experts say the price of a barrel of oil will rise to, which is in the region of about €200 a barrel.
“That would mean that, without excise, we would be looking at a forecourt price of about €1.50 if we hit the $200 a barrel mark, €1.50 a litre.
“If we don’t take this measure and Government hasn’t taken any steps to ameliorate that, we will see the price of fuel in the forecourt in the coming weeks ahead, and we are not sure exactly when, rising to about €3.50 per litre,” she told Newstalk.
Speaking in the Dáil, Labour TD Duncan Smith asked Green Party leader Eamon Ryan to admit the oil firms had played the Government “like absolute mugs.”
While Sinn Fein finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said the "so-called" reduction in excise on petrol and diesel has been immediately eroded with prices higher than they were on Tuesday.
He said people are panicking and struggling to make ends meet.
He told Minister Ryan: "Half measures simply doesn't cut it.
“You could have done more.”
He also criticised the Energy Minister for not cutting taxes on home heating oil.
He said Minister Ryan was telling people to slow down but “we’re saying the Government needs to "hurry up" and cut excise further on petrol and diesel.
Minister Ryan said people will begin to see the €200 credit on energy bills this month and said a 20% reduction on public transport will be introduced this week.
Minister Ryan indicated that European Union laws may change around energy taxes.
He said: "The Taoiseach is going to be working with European colleagues to see if we can do more.”
Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen was one of many TD’s that wrote to the The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) on Thursday.
In the letter, seen by the Irish Mirror, Mr Cowen said he is “concerned that some retailers may be engaging in price gouging.”
Speaking to Fianna Fáil TDs at its parliamentary party, the Taoiseach said: “Price fixing is completely unacceptable.
“Any exploitation of a barbaric war such as this is morally reprehensible.
“Such profiteering is completely unacceptable on fuel prices. It is a barbaric act of cruelty on a civil population.”
