WARNING AS DIESEL BACK TO RECORD HIGH OF €2

Gardaí report a spate of thefts from petrol stations as fuel prices soar at the pumps

FUEL prices have once again risen to a record high of €2 per litre, as gardaí warn filling stations to be vigilant against a new rise in drive-off thefts at the pumps.

With inflation at a 40-year high of 7%, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said yesterday that ‘people are feeling the pinch and it’s more than a pinch – a lot of people are struggling’.

Now gardaí say they are seeing an increase in drive-off thefts at petrol stations, which follows a nationwide rise in the theft of home heating oil as the Russian invasion of Ukraine sends prices spiralling.

Diesel prices are now more than 40% higher than a year ago, while petrol is 24% higher and home heating oil is just over 90% higher.

One station in the capital was charging more than €2.04 per litre for diesel yesterday and prices

of €1.99 a litre are common across the country for petrol and diesel.

AA Ireland has been warning that fuel prices were heading towards €2, in a return to the record prices witnessed in March.

It comes as Sergeant John Kelly of Fermoy Garda Station warned that drive-offs have been reported in north Cork recently.

He said two motorists drove off without paying in the space of two hours at one petrol station last week, one leaving with €100 worth of fuel and the other €95.

‘It’s a warning for petrol stations and particularly for isolated petrol stations. They really should consider, with the cost of fuel so high, introducing the pay-beforeyou-fill concept,’ he advised.

Sergeant Kelly said installing CCTV cameras won’t always help catch the culprits, as fake number plates can be used and thieves will try to conceal their faces.

Gardaí have also warned that thefts of home heating oil may rise into the summer due to rising prices and increased demand.

‘They need to take emergency action’

With the price of oil soaring, thieves are seeking to take advantage.

‘Oil prices are rising so sharply that oil tanks are being targeted,’ said a garda spokesman.

Independent TD Verona Murphy, former head of the Irish Road Haulage Association, told the Irish Daily Mail that people who use fuel on a commercial basis have taken every security precaution against theft ‘because they know it’s liable to happen’.

The Wexford TD said she has seen the price of fuel go above €2 a litre in the past week in many places, especially in rural Ireland.

Gardaí said the recent fuel thefts in busy residential areas are unusual as such robberies typically happen at more isolated properties in rural areas.

Gardaí have warned homeowners to secure their home heating oil after reports of theft around the country. It’s also thought the thieves may be monitoring fuel deliveries to identify targets.

Ms Murphy said reducing the price of fuel would be the single biggest thing the Government could do to address the cost-ofliving crisis.

She said: ‘They need to take a gamble here. They need to take serious emergency action. Reducing the price of a litre of fuel may not have been something we’d have done before the war, but because the war is here we need to take necessary, national safety measures and, for me, to safeguard Ireland’s economy, that would be to take away the excise.

‘Just remove the tax on a day-byday, week-by-week basis. I’m not saying remove it forever, I’m saying remove it as an emergency measure and keep an eye on it until we know that the price of a barrel of oil has stabilised, and the price of fuel is in line with what people can afford.

‘We’re driving the country into a recession, no pun intended. If you continue to allow the cost of fuel to rise, then you allow the cost of living to rise exponentially. If you can’t control the price of fuel, the cost of everything goes up. We’re an island: everything that gets here has to be fuelled.’

Mr Varadkar was under pressure yesterday in the Dáil, particularly from Sinn Féin, to address the Government’s commitment to easing the cost of living, with inflation expected to hit 9% in the coming months.

He said the Government has provided €2.4billion so far in relief, but he added it is working on proposals to target the rising cost of childcare and public transport.

‘A lot of these inflationary pressures are beyond the control of governments, or at least the Irish Government, because they are driven by international factors,’ Mr Varadkar said.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan confirmed yesterday that the reduction in excise duty of 20cent on petrol and 15cent on diesel, which was due to end on August 31, has now been extended to Budget day.

Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, the president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Eugene Drennan, said record fuel prices were having a ‘calamitous’ impact on members.

Meanwhile, demonstrators gathered outside the Dáil yesterday in protest at the cost of living. Senior citizens, students and workers staged the protest over the cost of housing, college fees, health and childcare.

Beth O’Reilly of the Union of Students in Ireland said some students are being forced to chose between buying school materials and food and heating.