Vol. 433 No. 5
73 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he will give details of the way in which Irish pretax prices for petrol and for motor diesel compare with those in each of the other EC member states; and if he will give details of the way in which the distribution margin on motor fuels compare with that in each of the other EC countries, all of which data is reported by Ireland to the EC Commission.
A recent study carried out on behalf of the EC Commission found that Ireland had the highest pretax prices for motor fuels — about 20 per cent above the weighted average. The study identifies a number of contributory factors including low population density, low throughput at service stations, higher shipping costs, and the cost of Whitegate. The data used for the study is contained in the EC Bulletin Petrolier.
The level of distributor and retailer margins is determined by market forces, since the removal of price control on petrol on 1 October, 1991. My understanding, however, is that these margins are high compared to other EC countries.
