Rising heating costs need to be taken into context, says Fuels for Ireland CEO
Vivienne Clarke
The CEO of Fuels for Ireland, Kevin McPartlin, has pointed out that new figures showing that Ireland has experienced the largest increase in the price of home heating oil in the EU need to be taken in context.
Speaking on both Newstalk Breakfast and RTÉ radio’s Today with David McCullagh show, McPartlin said that Ireland is an unusual case in Europe as we use kerosene for heating oil, unlike the rest of Europe, which uses less expensive diesel for heating oil.
“Only about five per cent of the diesel used in the European Union comes through the Strait of Hormuz, but 30 per cent of the kerosene is. And that's where the real squeeze has been felt.
"The other thing that we need to point out when we're comparing with the European Union is that nobody else in the European Union is paying a carbon tax on their home heating oil. We're also paying levies for different elements of government policy. So, the government do have a number of levers.”
The latest data shows that the price of home-heating oil in Ireland jumped from 96 cents a litre on February 23rd to €1.23 a litre by March 2nd, a rise of 27.3 per cent. This was the largest weekly increase observed across all EU member states.
“We're not comparing like with like here. In all of the European member states, they're using distillate, a kind of diesel-like product for their home heating, whereas we're using kerosene.
“And we need to look at where the markets are. So, in kerosene markets, the increase has been far, far, far more dramatic than it has been for diesel and petrol.
"It's also worth pointing out that the same European Commission report which showed that our home heating oil prices have increased most in any other member state showed that we are 23rd and 24th when it comes to the price increase last week for petrol and diesel.”
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said the government cannot make knee-jerk decisions on the increased cost of home heating as they do not know if the current conflict in the Middle East is going to last another three days or another three months.
“We have to plan and adapt in a stable way, as we try to do with all things in the Irish government, and this is the same with that.
"I think we need a better sense of where this is going, and the last thing I think you do is make knee-jerk decisions within a 10-day period that might ultimately prejudice your decisions later on if needed for the longer term,” she told RTÉ radio’s Today with David McCullagh show.
When asked if the government would consider support for people in energy arrears, the Minister said, “We will gather information and react in a stable, predictable way.
“The government has taken a number of different cost-of-living supports over the last number of years, but even in the last budget of different kinds, where we've put targeted supports of different kinds into groups that we know need more help, whether it's fuel allowance, fuel supports, but also other targeted supports for groups who need more help.”
