John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I would like to support the Senators who have called for some measure to be taken against filling stations that charge in excess of prices available elsewhere. One could rightly say that people have a choice in where they can shop, but the filling station in question has a prime location. It charges 38 cent per litre or €1.72 per gallon more than other filling stations. Per barrel, that is €103 or $170, almost three times the price of a barrel of oil.

The reason this is happening at that location is simple. If I was travelling from England to Ireland and wished to fill my car's tank, I would wait until reaching Dublin. Getting off an Irish Ferries ship, the first station one would come to if following a map or GPS to get outside Dublin would be one of the Republic's most expensive filling stations. One would pull in and be charged more than anywhere else in the locality. Should we re-examine the issue of a maximum prices order?

In fairness to auctioneers, one such agency paid out a hefty sum recently for misadvertising the amount of space available in a property in Gardiner Street, which it overstated by 1,800 ft. While the disclaimer in the small print stated that the agency was not responsible, the courts found otherwise and the agency paid out almost €300,000 plus costs.