Government taxes on fuel add to austerity burden for motorists

The price of petrol and diesel continues to be unacceptably high because of taxes which are adding to the austerity burden, according to the Automobile Association (AA).

Its latest survey of fuel prices shows that in September a litre of petrol cost 161.2c, up by 1.1c on the figure for August. Diesel also rose in price, up by 2.1c to an average of 152.1c per litre.

“High fuel prices continue to be a major problem for Irish motorists and for Irish businesses,” says director of consumer affairs Conor Faughnan. “2013 has been another grim year. While we are at the mercy of international market forces we should not allow that to blind us to the fact there is simply too much tax on petrol and diesel.”