The Government has extended fuel supports for another two months after the Dáil voted to approve the measure despite opposition from Sinn Féin and a split between the Healy-Rae brothers.

The House voted by 104 to 49 to accept the two-month extension of supports.

A reduction of 30c per litre for diesel and 25c for petrol, first introduced last April after major blockades over fuel costs, will remain in place until October 31st, Tánaiste Simon Harris said.

“We are also extending the temporary reduction applying to marked gas, oil, or green diesel from November onwards,” at 7c per litre.

It meant the Government was now providing more than €1.3 billion in support to assist households and businesses with increased energy costs because of the conflict in the Middle East, Harris said.

The Healy-Rae brothers divided in their vote with Michael supporting the Government and Danny opposing.

It is believed to be the first time since the two Kerry TDs were elected that they took opposing sides in their voting choices, echoing the split following Michael’s resignation as a minister of state after the nationwide fuel protests.

The Social Democrats, Labour, Green Party and Government-supporting Independents backed the proposal.

Sinn Féin, People Before Profit Solidarity, Independent Ireland, Aontú and 100% Redress party opposed the measure.

Speaking during an emergency Dáil debate on Friday, the Tánaiste said: “Locking the Irish taxpayer into decisions many months and possibly years in advance is not certainty. It’s actually imprudent.”

The cost of the supports is estimated at €407 million from September 1st until the end of February 2027, but total supports over a 12-month period, including the deferred increase in carbon tax and targeted supports for different sectors will reach €1.3 billion.

There was “an immediate issue requiring an immediate decision”, Harris said. This “provides breathing space” and “ensures that rather than facing a cliff edge, any restoration of these measures can be managed carefully and responsibly”.

But Harris warned “nobody knows what geopolitical development may affect markets next week, never mind next year”.

The recall of the Dáil for a special one-hour debate and vote on a two-month deferral of increases follows an incorporeal Cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said “what you bring today is not a solution. It’s kicking the can down the road. It’s postponing the pain, not removing it and that is why we will oppose your motion today.”

Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said it was “six weeks of a reprieve” and “an example of the Government not understanding the pressure that people are under”.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns whose party voted for the two-month extension of supports, described the Government as “permanently stuck in reaction mode”.

It was “not a cost-of-living strategy. It is a desperate approach from a Government with no vision and no ambition”, she said.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the Government “has money aplenty, but no vision, and that’s the real problem of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. You talk of prudence, but your annual budgets are a work of fiction.”

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said “the only way to force the Government to act is the threat of protest and protest itself”, while Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman said only reducing dependence on fossil fuels would “give long-term protection to Irish families from international volatility in the cost of oil and gas”.

Charles Ward of the 100% Redress Party said “you knew this was coming and you didn’t listen and you left it to the eleventh hour”. There is “no plan in place”.

Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins said the rebate for farmers “is going to be kicked away and the farmers are going to get an awful kickback on this and are furious”.

Aontú TD Paul Lawless said “families do not need a stay of execution for six week. They need certainly and in rural Ireland, fuel is not a luxury. It’s a staple.”

Earlier the Opposition called for a Dáil vote the first five minutes of the emergency sitting over the length of the debate to ensure excise increases do not go ahead on petrol and diesel from Monday.

The Opposition hit out at the Dáil debate being confined to just 60 minutes with the cost-of-living crisis but Government Chief Whip Mary Butler said they were dealing with a single financial resolution.

“The time allocated is exactly the same one-hour debate that we have had for four previous financial resolutions in March and April,” when the House voted to cut excise on fuels

“We are not here today to announce a budget,” she said. “That will happen on October the 6th.”