Petrol retailers accused of ‘rip-off’

LIMERICK petrol stations have been accused of a wide scale rip-off after Fine Gael’s Michael Noonan revealed the findings of a survey he commissioned on petrol and diesel prices in the city.

His survey found that almost 30% of city garages are charging more than 101 cents for a litre of petrol. And prices have not fallen in line with the drop in the price of oil. The survey was based on prices charged for petrol and diesel at 28 Limerick garages last Friday.

Mr Noonan said 42% of the garages have yet to drop the price of a litre of petrol below the €1 mark, while 50% were found to be selling diesel at more than €1 per litre.

Mr Noonan said: “The recent benefits of petrol and diesel prices dropping has not yet been passed on in full to Limerick’s motorists.”

The survey found that the cheapest litre of petrol or diesel was 97.9 cent. The dearest price for either a litre of petrol or diesel was 108.9 cent.

He said: “It’s hard to explain how on the Ballysimon Road it costs 108.9 cents for a litre of petrol or diesel while less than half a mile away on the Dublin Road the same product is selling at 97.9 cent per litre.”

On the Dublin Road, his survey found one garage selling petrol at 106.9 cent while a nearby outlet was offering a litre of petrol for 97.9 cent.

In the Corbally area, a litre of petrol or diesel sold for 99.9 cent, while over a kilometre out the Corbally road it was 107.9 cent for a litre of petrol.

Only 10% of the garages surveyed had dropped the price of a litre of petrol and diesel to 97.9 cent.