The cost of motor fuel on display at the service station down the road from where the Fine Gael parliamentary party met in Gorey in Wexford told the story starkly.

The price of a litre of diesel was €2.03.9 with petrol not far behind on €1.92.9 this morning.

This is the territory which sparked the fuel protests last April and prompted the Government to intervene.

Back then it cut the cost of diesel by 32 cent per litre along with an excise reduction on petrol of 27 cent.

That measure remains in place, and there were hints aplenty from the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris that it would not be phased out from November.

He spoke about providing at least some degree of certainty on energy costs in the Budget, which is just 25 days away.

There was a clear indication too that tax on home heating oil will also be lowered in the next few weeks.

All this coupled with a “several hundred euro” income tax cut will make a real difference to those households struggling to cope with the cost of living, Fine Gael believes.

There is even a precipitable tetchiness from Simon Harris when it’s put to him that this will not amount to very much as prices soar.

On RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme, he even cited his own background, saying households like the one he grew up in know the value of a few hundred euro.

On Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chamber’s admission that the amount was modest over a full year, Simon Harris contended that something can be both modest and meaningful at the same time.

This is in some ways understandable given that he is a finance minister and a party leader. He has to sell the Budget he is designing with even greater gusto.

To do this, he has delved into the archives and found one of Leo Varadkar’s early hit records. It is the reference to the person who gets up early in the morning.

Indeed, that hard-working early riser figure was mentioned by almost every second TD at the Gorey gathering.

The by-election win in Galway-West and the well-stocked exchequer coffers created an almost celebratory mood at this meeting ahead of the Dáil returning next Wednesday.

But of course, all present humbly spoke about what they were hearing on the doorsteps; that is people’s struggles with rising prices across the economy.

As befits such political events there was a sense of rediscovery in the air.

Even though they have been in Government since 2011, Fine Gael believes it has a new message for middle Ireland.

The party says it has found a way to help this group of people get ahead and not just get by.

There are pledges too that the planned adjustments to tax bands and credits over the next four years will be flagged on Budget day.

This is again aimed at giving people certainty about the period ahead.

However, amidst all the plans and slick political messaging, there is an undeniable reality that international turmoil has the potential to quickly wash any Budget gains for households.