Customers are likely to see even lower prices at fuel pumps in the coming weeks, according to the Irish Petrol Retailers Association.

Old reliables such as the price of a pint, petrol and diesel, motor tax, and VRT have been left untouched.

Garage owners, trying to compete with criminal gangs who supply cheaper illegal fuel along the border, are backing a voluntary independent fuel testing scheme.

The steady increase in petrol prices is set to continue this week with many garages who have already passed the €1.50 mark set to increase their prices yet again.

Petrol sales plunged over Christmas as motorists abandoned their cars during the big freeze.

DESPITE a continued fall in the price of crude oil, motorists are being warned to expect a continued “slow increase” in the price of fuel because of fluctuating currency values, as well as the recent introduction of a carbon tax.

The Irish Petrol Retailers Association has said the draft Intoxicating Liquor Bill may have serious implications for the smaller retail outlets that do not have the luxury of spare floor space to separate trading areas.

MOTORING costs have increased by almost 4% over the past year, despite continuing reductions in insurance premiums, according to the latest AA annual survey.

MOTORISTS could face the prospect of paying €5 a litre for petrol within the next four years because of global oil shortages.

LAST month an RTÉ Prime Time programme on the motor trade highlighted a serious problem with the whole approach to rip-off Ireland. There is a serious flaw in the thinking on what constitutes anti-competitive activity.

A FUEL supply crisis looms along the western seaboard, a retailers’ association warned yesterday as service stations, countrywide, battle to contain prices.