Hitting rural Ireland hardest

摘要

Applied to automotive fuels from midnight following the announcement,carbon tax changes to other fuels,including heating oil,will come into effect in May 2020.At the trade association for the liquid fuels sector in Ireland,the UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association(UKIFDA)concern is focused on the effect the Budget’s announcements will have on rural communities across Ireland.”Rural households are being penalised by these increases,”says UKIFDA’s Irish representative Nick Hayes.”On average rural households use more fuel in their vehicles,and in May next year those using heating oil will also be penalised.This is an anti-rural measure due to its dependence on liquid fuel as opposed to urban areas where mains gas is available.”According to UKIFDA 686,000 households in Ireland use heating oil.Around 5% of these households are in rural Ireland,where they are off the main gas grid and have little alternative to oil for home heating.It also estimates that 400,000 households in Ireland are already suffering from fuel poverty and any additional cost on their fuel will only make matters worse for them.