Families relying on their cars for transport will be “aghast” at the Government’s decision to begin withdrawing fuel tax cuts from September, Sinn Féin has said. The Cabinet agreed on Tuesday to begin a gradual reduction of the cuts from September 1st, with the reliefs on excise duty and the National Oil Reserves Agency (Nora) levy due to be removed in full from December 1st.Consumers are currently benefiting from to the tune of 32 cent per litre of diesel and 27 cent per litre of petrol. These were introduced in response to a price surge that began when US-Israeli strikes on Iran led to unrest in the Middle East. The Government on Tuesday announced that the excise and Nora cuts will be restored in phases on the first day of September, October, November and December.As a result, the prices of petrol and diesel will increase by 9 cent and 10 cent respectively on September 1st. There will be a further increase of 8 cent to both on October 1st and of 5 cent on petrol and 7 cent on diesel on November 1st. The final increase will come on December 1st, when petrol increases by 5 cent and diesel by 7 cent.“That’s not what workers and families needed to hear this week,” Sinn Féin TD for Cavan-Monaghan Matt Carthy said on Tuesday in response to the Government’s decision. He said “families who are filling their car with diesel will be aghast at the thought” that prices would soon start to increase again. “Suggestions that they will be tapered will provide no succour whatsoever,” he said. “It reinforces my view that the Government does not understand the crisis that many families are going through.”Fuel prices on forecourts have started to stabilise in recent weeks but would have risen to around €2 a litre in the event of a sudden withdrawal of the reliefs. Taking a tapered approach to their removal was regarded as attractive by the Coalition as it leaves flexibility to reverse course should commodity prices increase again. It could also minimise the chances of a repeat of the protests seen in April, when hauliers, agricultural contractors and others blocked major roads and disrupted supply routes and fuel depots in response to the sharp rise in prices. With the presidency of the Council of the European Union due to rotate to Dublin on Wednesday, the Government is keen to avoid the potential for protests to disrupt meetings of high-ranking European officials.The Labour Party said it agreed that the subsidy should be tapered with “no cliff-edge”. However, Wexford TD George Lawlor warned that the situation remained volatile in the Middle East and instability could continue into the autumn, when the subsidies are due to be reduced. He said Labour wanted more support targeted at PAYE workers. “We’re calling for a 10 per cent cut in public transport fares to ensure that people have a greater opportunity to utilise public transport to improve their cost of living situation,” he said. “We’re calling for a €400 income support grant for households that earn less than €80,000. We’re also calling for a cut in VAT on home heating oil, which obviously is the staple of ordinary families right across the country.”