Fuel costs warning gfg
4 August 2000
Fuel costs warning gfg
RISING fuel costs are draining Irish farmers incomes and must be contained by a cut in excise duty and VAT, says the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association.
"Agricultural fuel prices have increased by 45% at a time when, at best, real farm incomes are static," says ICMSA president, Pat ORourke.
A year ago, the rate for agricultural diesel was just Ir24.23p/litre, compared with Ir35.27p/litre today.
The ICMSA, together with the Irish Agricultural Contractors Association, is calling on the government to remove all excise duty and VAT, bringing the price down to Ir27.31p/litre.
That is still more than farmers pay north of the border, but is considered more manageable in a country where national inflation is pushing 6%.
Agricultural diesel is coloured green in the Irish Republic to differentiate it from the red diesel supplied in Northern Ireland, in an attempt to counter fraud. *