Sir, – Oil is generally traded and priced in US dollars. While the price of oil has fallen roughly 55 per cent from its high last year in dollars terms, a stronger dollar means that the fall in euro terms is closer to 48 per cent. So one might expect the price at the pumps to have fallen by a similar margin. Not so – and the petrol station owners are not to blame; they generally run on thin margins with profits derived primarily from non-petrol sales.
Government taxes and duties, primarily excise and VAT, make up close to 60 per cent of the price we pay at the pump.
What possible reason is there for Irish businesses and consumers to be paying such an incredibly punitive level of tax for petrol? Excise duties on petrol should be slashed to reflect the new reality of energy prices, and allow Ireland to remain productive and competitive, not to mention the potential to ease the burden on cash-strapped households. – Yours, etc,
GAVIN DREDGE,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.