Councillor questions offaly fuel prices

An Edenderry councillor has claimed there is a “startling” difference in the price of fuel around the county.

According to Cllr Noel Cribbin, “a big source of contention in the Edenderry area is the huge difference in the fuel at the pumps compared to neighbouring towns.”

“In the last week I carried out a quick survey on my Facebook with friends around the county on fuel prices and the results were startling, with Edenderry coming out by far the most expensive in the county on my survey,” explained Cllr Cribbin.

He said prices can vary up to 13 cent between outlets around the county. Cllr Cribbin was amazed to discover that Tesco could have a variation of as much as 9.9 cents per litre when its filling stations in Tullamore and Edenderry, just over 30kms away, were compared.

On the day he checked, Cllr Cribbin said Tesco was charging 127.9 cent for a litre of petrol in Edenderry and the same litre cost 120 cents in Tullamore. The situation with diesel was similar with a litre costing 122.9 cents in Edenderry compared to 113 cent in Tullamore. The largest difference he noted was 13 cent in the price of diesel between different stations in Tullamore and Edenderry.

“No matter what way you look at it we are 12 cents and 13 cents dearer than Tullamore and for Tesco in Edenderry and Tullamore we are 7.9 and 9.9 dearer for our petrol and diesel - why?” asked Cllr Cribbin. He said “on a €20 euro fill of petrol the saving is €1.86 and for a person traveling to work using €80 petrol, the saving is €7.44.”

Cllr Cribbin said the price difference is drawing people out of Edenderry. He claimed retailers in Edenderry have informed him that shoppers from Edenderry are going out of town to fill up and using the trip to do their shopping as well.

“Also the many shoppers from neighbouring towns and villages who down the years always done their shopping and business in Edenderry are gone as well, which is having a devastating effect on all retailers in Edenderry and the results are plain to see with shops closing on a weekly basis,” added Cllr Cribbin. 

He said while it can’t all be blamed on fuel prices, the high fuel costs in Edenderry are contributing to the problems for local retailers.

Cllr Cribbin raised the issue of fuel prices at this week’s Edenderry Municipal District meeting. His proposal to write to Tesco headquarters with regard to the price variation was seconded by Cllr Eddie Fitzpatrick and a letter will now be sent from the municipal district to Tesco.

In response to a query, Tesco stated: “We review our prices on an ongoing basis to ensure we are as competitive as possible within the local area.”