"Hoping and praying this fuel crisis will end" - Mayo businesswoman

A Newport-based health and safety tutor who travels across Ireland for work says she is spending nearly 50 percent more on fuel than she was just three weeks ago, as the ongoing fuel crisis continues to bite for those who depend on their cars to earn a living.

Joanne Cotter, CEO of CSI Mayo — a training provider offering courses ranging from medical to health and safety — says the dramatic demand at the pumps has left her hoping she can make it through the working week.

"Three weeks ago, I filled my car for €80, and when I filled it this week, it was like €118 — and that's twice a week. So it's a lot," she said.

With regular routes taking her from Mayo to Sligo, Galway, and occasionally Dublin, Cotter says the financial pressure has become impossible to ignore. "I'm on the road all the time. I normally fill up my car twice a week, and I feel now hoping that I'll be able to manage to get to work for the rest of the week and just hoping and praying that this fuel crisis will come to an end."

The situation has been further complicated by fuel shortages at forecourts. Cotter says that last night alone, 15 people in her area were forced to visit three different petrol stations before they could fill up, highlighting the growing strain on supply as well as household and business budgets.

For operators like CSI Mayo, which delivers training to companies across the region, absorbing the extra costs is simply not an option. Cotter says she has already had to broach the subject of price increases with some of her clients — and the conversation has not always gone smoothly.

"I've mentioned to one or two companies the course is going to be a few euros extra, and they weren't happy," she said. "I can also understand other companies having to put up a few euros on their service, because it's just impossible to pay for these costs and not put up some prices."

Her comments reflect a wider concern among self-employed workers and small businesses that rising fuel costs will trigger a ripple effect across the economy, with price increases passing from suppliers to customers across every sector.