The Irish Petrol Retailers Association (IPRA) has given a cautious welcome to the Finance Ministers decision to increase carbon tax by €6/tonne of CO2.
David Blevings, Media Spokesperson for the IPRA said, “The increase is not a surprise given the ambitions of the Government’s Climate Action Plan. The rise is modest and will result in about 1cpl increase in prices at the pumps. The good news is that as predicted last month by IPRA, global oil costs have reduced post the Saudi spike on 16th September.
We further welcome the fact that the duty equalization of petrol and diesel did not occur – this is in line with IPRA submission to the Minister as it would impact most on the rural communities who use private transport, mainly diesel to get from A to B.
Our Members are local businesses who provide a valuable local service and are engaged in climate change and the role they have to play in the transition to a lower carbon economy.
Given the proposed evolution to electric vehicles they would like to see increased revenue from the carbon tax ring fenced to subsidise the purchase of EV’s and fund quick chargers for retail sites to assist this change. In addition, many retailers are ready to embrace E10 in petrol to further reduce emissions in transport,” added David.