Government must act as the cost of petrol and diesel continues to rise

Independent TD Carol Nolan for Offaly Carol Nolan has urged Government to take immediate action to reduce the tax burden on motorists following confirmation by the November AA Ireland fuel price survey that unleaded petrol is now €1.74 a litre, up from €1.72 last month while diesel prices are up by 4c in the month to €1.72 a litre.

This follows recent reports that the price of a full tank of heating oil has risen by €80 in the past month, meaning that the average cost of 1,000 litres of heating oil has jumped from €905 on 22 October to €982.88.

The independent TD also called out the negative consequences of fuel price hikes for hauliers who have consistently pointed out that at traditional toll plazas, stopping and starting heavy vehicles wastes an estimated 6 million litres of diesel annually nationwide (half of that at the Dublin Port Tunnel alone), equating to roughly €26 million in unnecessary fuel expenditure each year:

“The Government cannot blame the war in Ukraine, instability in the international markets or anything else for its own decision to keep increasing the carbon tax on fuels at an annual rate, and which we know is a significant contributor to this problem,” said Deputy Nolan.

“We are still very deep into a cost-of-living crisis and now we are seeing inflated fuel costs starting to creep in the wrong direction yet again. There are things that the Government can do, measures it can take to reduce this burden on motorists and households and one of them is to look again at either reducing or eliminating entirely the carbon tax which is utterly punitive and not in line with any conception of a progressive tax system. It penalises the highest earners who use their cars just as much as it penalises those on the lowest incomes. How is that fair?”

“Government cannot play innocent on this one. It is standing over a fuel tax regime that is not sustainable for ordinary workers and action has to be taken to address that plain fact immediately,” Deputy Nolan concluded.

ENDS