Pump prices to rise 4 times in next year
Fuel misery for motorists with excise duty increases
MOTORISTS are braced for more pain at the pumps with the price of fuel set to rise FOUR times within the next 12 months.
Excise duty hikes will add an extra 15c to the price per litre of petrol and 12c to a litre of diesel.
It comes on top of an increase in fuel prices last month after four months of falling prices.
From April 1, the cost of a litre of motor fuel will rise by 5c and by 4c for diesel, with similar rises in August.
A third hike is due in October’s Budget in the form of an increased carbon tax which will add another 3c to a litre of fuel.
Motorists are expected to face a fourth price rise in January 2025 of up to 2c a litre due to increased biofuels costs. Diesel rose by four cents to €1.72 per litre while petrol increased by three cents to €1.71 per litre, AA Ireland’s fuel price survey showed. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar defended the decision to end the reduced excise duty levels on motor fuel introduced in response to the war in Ukraine. He said on Friday: “They were temporary and there to reflect the fact that petrol and diesel prices had exceeded €2 a litre at one stage.
“[We] set out in the Budget how those excise duty costs would end, and there is no change to that.”
Fuels for Ireland called on Finance Minister Michael Mcgrath to put a stay on the planned increase in excise duty due in April.
Spokesman Kevin Mcpartlan warned of a 15c per litre petrol price difference on both sides of the border as the UK extends its excise duty reduction for a further 12 months.
He said: “That’s driving people across the border to buy their fuel.”