Rocketing fuel prices have left drivers paying 33 per cent more for petrol and diesel than a year ago, according to the Automobile Association (AA).
High fuel prices are having a “significant impact” on more than eight out of 10 people in the Republic, a recent survey by the motoring organisation shows.
According to the AA, motorists are paying an average of 177.3 cent a litre for petrol, against 133.8 cent in February 2021. Over the same period diesel prices rose to 167.6 cent a litre from 124.9 cent.
“This is an increase of 33 per cent for petrol and an increase of 34 per cent for diesel in the past year, and these are now the highest prices AA Ireland has seen since we started recording figures in 1991,” the organisation says.
It now costs the average motorist €88.50 to fill their car, against €75.50 last year and €64 in 2020.
The Government takes 60 per cent of what drivers pay at the pump in tax. Petrol costs 79.375 cent a litre before taxes, while diesel is 82.358 cent.
Those levies include excise, carbon tax, National Oil Reserves Agency charges and VAT at 23 per cent.
An AA poll of 771 drivers found 86 per cent of them want the Government to cut tax.
A separate vote of 384 drivers found that more than half of them would not opt for electric cars, public transport, walking or cycling despite high fuel prices.
