Budget: Petrol increase will add €72 a year to costs

The additional cost of the petrol increases announced in the Budget will add around €72 a year to the cost of motoring, according to the AA.

The organisation said the increases bring the cost of petrol in Ireland 'to an all-time high'. A spokesman added that if it wasn't for excise increases in the last two years, the cost of petrol would be around €1.21 a litre now, instead of the projected €1.40.

In the emergency budget of October 2008, 8 cent per litre was added to excise duty on Petrol. The following April, 5 cent was added to diesel. In December of 2009, a Carbon Tax of 4.2 cent and 4.9 per litre was added to the two fuels respectively. Vat at 21% is also added.