Taxi drivers generally welcome the delay announced in Budget 2024 in restoring the excise rate on petrol and diesel given the sharp increase in fuel prices in recent times, says taxi driver Robert Addie, but it will mean little difference to him as he drives an electric car.

“In general, the lads are feeling it from the price of petrol and diesel,” says Addie. “So it is a positive that they are holding it back for a while anyway.”

An increase in excise of 8 cent per litre on petrol and 6 cent on diesel due at the end of October has been delayed and will now be restored in two instalments, on April 1st and August 1st next year. Rates were reduced last year to help with the cost of living crisis.

However, a 3 cent per litre increase in the rate of carbon tax on petrol and diesel comes into effect immediately and will hit motorists as petrol stations restock their supplies.

Repayments

For Addie, the increase in the cost of fuel is not a problem as he recently bought an electric car, a Volkswagen ID4. But the cost of the electric vehicle, even with the grants that were available, was substantial, he says, so any savings he gets on fuel, are eaten up by his repayments.

Addie is not against carbon taxes generally. “You can kick and scream all you want but they are there. When you are in the city centre, taxis have been burning diesel for years and it is just horrendously bad for the city centre environment and the people who are walking around.”

The biggest problem for taxi drivers these days is insurance. He has been a taxi driver for almost 27 years and says it is a cyclical business. “When the economy is good, people get taxis. Is it going well now? Yes. One hundred per cent.”