Professor John McHale:

It is a specific question and is a little outside our mandate. One matter that is relevant is the fraction of the price of fuel products that is accounted for by taxation. It is very high in the Irish context. I do not know if we have the percentage to hand.

When one has a reduction in the price of crude oil, it only affects a relatively small fraction of what determines the price of, for instance, a litre of petrol or diesel. That is why in Ireland one sees falling crude prices having smaller effects on prices at the petrol pumps than in other countries where taxation does not make up such a large share of the price. Senator Sean D. Barrett probably knows more about the structure of the market in this case than we do, but it seems to be reasonably competitive. I am not an expert in this area, but I would not think anti-competitive practice offer the main explanation for the relatively small movement in price. It comes down mainly to the high share of taxation.