A TD has written to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to outline concerns about fuel prices.
Independent deputy Carol Nolan has also contacted the Minister of State with responsibility for consumer protection, Robert Troy following complaints she received about potential price-gouging by fuel companies and service stations.
The government recently responded to the escalating prices of petrol, diesel and ‘green’ diesel by introducing a series of cuts on excise duty on fuel. However, many feel that the move is not enough to offset the crippling costs for motorists, farmers, agricultural contractors, hauliers and industry.
Fuel prices
Deputy Nolan outlined that “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be used as a pretext by either public or private bodies to artificially inflate prices, beyond the expected levels of volatility, in order to maximise profits”.
“At the moment all that we have is anecdotal data about the practices that some fuel companies are engaging in,” the Laois-Offaly representative explained.
“That is why we need a robust and transparent mechanism put in place to ensure that we can gather the kind of information we need to determine if issues of this kind-such as the jacking up of petrol and diesel prices are taking place at any kind of systematic level.
“The CCPC has already notified us that it does not have a role in monitoring price increases in the market, but that if businesses are seen to be colluding in fixing prices, then this equates to cartel behaviour and the CCPC can investigate and refer a case to the DPP for criminal prosecution.”
The TD outlined that she did not want to see concerns about pricing within the meat industry repeated in the fuel sector.
“I am therefore calling on Minister Troy to make it clear as a matter of urgency that he will not tolerate any move, however incremental, toward the emergence of abhorrent price fixing practices when it comes to fuel and energy supplies,” Nolan concluded.