Fuel prices continue to soar: It’s time to call the Government out
I wouldn’t once be going to an Irish beach.
The shorts and t-shirts were staying in their cupboards.
The mound of ice lollies in the freezer would be binned.
And not only would I be going through the entirety of 2024 without having a single home barbecue, I would not even be sitting in the sun on the outside furniture for a cheeky bottle of beer. Not once.
On Wednesday morning, I sat glumly watching another Atlantic depression (there’s nominative determinism if ever I’ve seen it) wrap the island in misery, and I called it.
The kids would soon return to school. The Premier League was back. The first leaves were starting to give up the ghost. And then I felt that chill... you know, that shudder. The first hint of autumn in the air.
Mark my words, there will be Halloween decorations in the shops this weekend.
As I contemplated this unchanging of the seasons, I made a mental note of my autumn to-do list: Start collecting and chopping logs for the stove, and fill up the home heating oil, which was down to a trickle when we last turned off the radiators in April.
I dared hope that kerosene prices had fallen in the past year. That pilot light of hope was quickly snuffed out when I went online.
Ouch.
I remember it being lower than half that at one time, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine had scuppered those prices, and clearly the novel recent turn of events whereby Ukraine had invaded Russia had not moved the dial.
It’s a similar story with petrol and diesel costs at the forecourts - prices remain sky-high and put a serious dent in the wallets of the people.
And the temptation is to blame the Ukraine war, and other unsettling world events such as the horrors in Gaza in the middle East.
It’s an opinion that many in government latch on to. A shrug, an eye to the heavens. ‘Sure, world events impacting prices. What can we do? Suck it up, I guess.’
But is that the case?
After all, the cost of filling a home heating oil tank in Ireland increased by €20 in April, thanks to carbon tax, and will increase again in October, by €7.50. Alarmingly, this carbon tax is set to keep increasing to 2030.
Let’s hope we don’t get a savage winter after our awful summer.
These increases in the price we pay to heat our homes are not the fault of Russia or Israel. That’s our own government slipping its hand into our pockets and taking more of our hard-earned cash, while pointing to Ukraine on a map and tutting.
Around 1.5 million households in Ireland have heating oil, so these rises affect a lot of people. But not as many as the number of motorists affected by the cost of petrol and diesel. The tax landscape is also a factor when it comes to the price of filling up your car.
This week, the organisation Fuels for Ireland forecast that this country would be taking more in fuel tax than virtually any other EU country after the October budget.
That will put us alongside the other two dearest, Malta and Netherlands - two countries that have excellent alternatives to cars in the shape of fine public transport and cycling systems. In little Malta, residents can even board a bus for free.
The problem in Ireland is that while fuel prices have indeed soared in recent years, the government is exacerbating the problem by continuously raising taxes - this year alone it did so in April and August, and will do so again in October.
Kevin McPartlan, CEO of Fuels for Ireland, stated: “We need to address the significant impact these changes will have. The increases place an unprecedented financial burden on both consumers and businesses.
“This escalation will exacerbate the already challenging conditions for businesses, and significantly increase costs for consumers.”
He called on the Government to establish an expert group on taxation “to develop a well-balanced fiscal policy that alleviates the economic strain on all stakeholders”.
Certainly, piling extra fuel costs on householders, motorists, and businesses at a time when prices are already at historic highs does not seem a well-balanced policy to me.
What gets my goat is that we constantly hear how the Government will endow all sectors of society with goodies in the October budget, ahead of the next election, while all the while imposing extra pain using the lever of taxes.
We often compare our prices to those of EU nations, when the UK is a better indicator - and over there, there was crowing this week that petrol prices have fallen to their lowest level in six months, to an average of £1.43 per litre. That’s €1.68 compared to €1.80 here.
Diesel prices in the UK are also cheaper than here.
It’s interesting to note that the UK imposed a 5p-per-litre fuel duty cut in March, 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, which lasts until March, 2025. So, they are cutting taxes in response to the Ukraine crisis, while Ireland are increasing theirs.
This creates an obvious issue on our border with the North, where drivers can exercise the right to choose cheaper options - a liberty not available to us here in the deep south.
The anomaly between prices in forecourts just a few miles apart at least shines a glaring spotlight on our Government’s iniquitous attitude to fuel taxation.
And wait till you hear what folk in Northern Ireland are paying for their home heating oil: Over there, they pay £500 (€587) for 900 litres, that’s €400 cheaper than in Ireland!
When you consider that household heating oil usage varies from around 1,300 litres a year in a three-bedroom house to 2,600 litres for a five-bed house, you can see how painful these prices are for families and householders.
It’s about time us consumers and businesses called the Government out on their fuel taxation policy - and our politicians stopped hiding behind the excuse of a war while making Ireland the most expensive country on the continent in which to drive your car or heat your home.
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