Car Fuel Prices Rise to Add €10 to Bills

In a recent survey of retail prices, AA Ireland has revealed that petrol and diesel prices have jumped at the pumps over the last month. Petrol now costs 154.9 cents per litre, which is 7 cent per litre more than during December. Diesel prices have sharply increased 6.2 cent per litre to an average 153.1 cents per litre in the last month.

The AA has calculated that the rise in prices alone will add €10 per month to the cost of running an average family car. With a car operating 12,000 miles per year at a fuel economy of 30 miles per gallon, it will use 150 litres of fuel every month. This means that a 7 cent per litre rise is €10.50 a month extra that drivers have to pay for regular petrol. The 6.2 cent per litre rise in diesel means an extra €9.30.

AA Ireland director of policy Conor Faughnan says that the bad news continues to come, and this is one of the highest monthly increases in prices that they have ever recorded. This includes the VAT hike, which was made effective on January 1, and that is one of the reasons for the price rise. Rising international prices are made worse in Ireland with the government’s decision to up taxes, which is what the last government did as well.

The rise in VAT added about 2.4 cent per litre to the cost of both petrol and diesel fuel. The rest of the rise in fuel costs is due to a rise in European prices. Faughnan says that this is causing a lot of frustration across Europe, and it’s due to a combination of the rising costs of petrol and diesel from refineries, as well as a fall in the value of the Euro. There is, unfortunately, no sign of relief, and it appears this year is starting off worse than last year.

Faughnan continued that the rise in fuel costs is a serious threat to businesses and a major hit on every family’s disposable income. The €10 per month per car extra cost is a massive blow to families. However, this hasn’t happened for the most part due to international prices or the global financial situation. It’s happened now due to the Irish government, which has made a serious error in thinking it can raise funds by increasing prices. People just can’t spare the money right now, and forcing them to use it on fuel means they can’t use it anywhere else in the economy. Fuel prices have now reached a level of crisis, he added, and the government needs to look at its budget again and reduce the “super-taxes”.