NCA to investigate price of fuel here

CONCERNS THAT consumers here are paying too much for fuel are being investigated by the National Consumer Agency (NCA).

The European Commission has found that petrol in Ireland is 11 per cent, diesel 20 per cent and home heating oil 13 per cent more expensive than the EU average, after taxes are taken into account.

Although the price of oil has halved since its peak during the summer, the price at the petrol pumps has only declined by about 10 per cent.

Petrol suppliers have said the price of crude oil is only one factor in the price at the pump as the cost of refining, the dollar rate and Government taxes are also significant factors. NCA chief executive Ann Fitzgerald said the agency had been tracking fuel prices for several weeks and would issue a report to Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan, by mid-December at the latest.

The report is examining the wholesale costs of fuel and oil and retail prices charged on the forecourts. Ms Fitzgerald said fuel data in Ireland was "hopelessly inadequate" as it is collated on a monthly basis while fuel prices in the EU were tracked weekly.

"Weekly tracking of Irish prices versus those in other EU countries is impossible," she added.

Ms Fitzgerald said the National Consumer Agency was tracking prices at individual pumps across the State to get a clearer picture of prices being charged to consumers.

"With the global price of oil fluctuating, we want to ascertain whether oil companies are quickly passing on savings on oil prices internationally and if petrol and diesel pump operators are subsequently passing those savings on to consumers," she said.