Petrol now costs an average of 162.0 cent per litre, down 0.1 cent since March. Diesel fell more sharply, down 2.7 cent to an average of 153.8.
The AA are optimistic of a further slight fall in the region of 2 cents over the next week to ten days as oil and other commodities have fallen sharply on world markets in the last week or so and the Euro has also strengthened againss the US dollar.
The AA points out that while oil prices tend to grab people's attention, they are not as big a factor as local taxes in the price that Irish drivers pay. Through a combination of excise duties including the 'carbon tax' and VAT, over 57 percent of the price of both diesel and petrol is tax. A typical Irish car doing typical Irish mileage will use 1,800 litres of fuel annually or 150 litres per month*. At current prices, that means drivers will pay €243 this month for petrol of which €138.50 is tax which the AA say 'for a road-dependent island economy with relatively poor public transport, this is altogether too much. "It burdens ordinary people and it burdens business in an ongoing anti-stimulus effect."
