Sir, – Kevin McPartlan of Fuels For Ireland, formerly the Irish Petroleum Industry Association, explains quite well how pricing works in relation to fuel (Letters, Mar.ch 10th). However, it is still a mystery to me how fuel, once delivered to a forecourt, presumably at a particular price, can go from €2.02 on Tuesday to €2.22 on Wednesday morning, with no fresh delivery taking place.
This was and is the situation at my local garage. – Yours, etc,
PAT QUINN,
Inchicore,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – I think what confuses and irritates people is that a lot of the arguments that Kevin McPartlan makes in his letter are not found to be the case when crude oil prices are falling. In those times, we have been told that it takes weeks for the wholesale price to hit the pump. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS CUMMINS,
Sandyford,
Dublin 16.
Sir, –I was driving down to Wexford on Wednesday morning and noticed that the price of diesel at a service area was posted at €1.99 per litre. On the way back two hours later it was listed at 2.14 per litre – an increase of 15 cent per litre.
The penny dropped, so to speak, later in the day when the Minister for Finance announced the relief measures for fuel, which had the effect of reducing the price of a litre of diesel by 15 cent. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK HOWLIN,
Milltown,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – I would like to record my unease at the Government stepping in to reduce the price at the pump amid the current crisis.
A drastic cut to public transport fares and targeted support for groups that cannot avoid the road (such as hauliers) would surely be a better option given the environmental targets that we have signed up to?
Austria has the KlimaTicket, which gives one year of access to all public transport in the country for €1,095. This is just over half the cost of the equivalent ticket in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD BANNISTER,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – I think that the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue and the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe need to sit down and have an urgent meeting about their priorities.
On the one hand, the Minister for Agriculture wants farmers to grow more corn this year to ensure food security.
This is a very expensive activity, given that the price of diesel has risen by 50 per cent in recent weeks and the price of fertiliser has risen by up to 200 per cent since the last planting season.
On the other hand, the Minister for Finance has enacted a 2 cent per litre reduction in the price of diesel, which amounts to a mere 1.3 per cent reduction.
More corn does need to be planted, but the economics of this just do not add up and an incentive scheme is needed to encourage this to happen. This scheme needs to be planned and announced quickly as the time for planting crops rapidly approaches.
What farmer in their right mind would go out and plant crops this spring, with the spiralling level of investment that is required? – Yours, etc,
RICHARD FOX,
Kilcoole,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – With energy prices soaring and gas from Russia to Europe in danger of being cut off, it seems inevitable we will see dire times ahead, requiring tough measures to be taken in the national interest. A sizeable amount of our gas is supplied by the Corrib field.
If Government were to nationalise this gas for the duration of the emergency and see to it that the flow was increased to meet any shortfall that might occur, it could protect Ireland from the worst effects of the crisis. – Yours, etc,
BOBBY CARTY,
Templeogue,
Dublin 6W.
Sir, – There is a radio advert currently on air that opens with the line “Ireland is leaving diesel behind”.
Given the current prices at the pumps, I suggest that the reverse is true. – Yours, etc,
RORY J WHELAN,
Drogheda,
Co Meath.
Sir, – Why do people like to sneer at plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles generally?
I last bought petrol 13 months ago on St Valentine’s Day, 2021, and can happily drive my plug-in hybrid electric vehicle about 40km on €1 of electricity before the internal combustion engine kicks in.
With petrol prices soaring at the pumps, surely the move to electric is a “no brainer”. – Yours, etc,
RONAN SCANLAN,
Leopardstown,
Dublin 18.