"The Finance Minister must reduce the tax rate the government takes on every litre of fuel in order to sustain employment and to promote growth in the economy," according to Sinn Féin Senator, Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.

The senator was speaking during the course of the debate on the Finance Bill in the Seanad.

He told Minister Noonan, that there was no sense in raising tax on petrol and diesel at the current time, as it was putting pressure on transport companies and on rural communities, and encouraging transport companies to buy their fuel abroad, with the result that the government loses out on revenue.

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"Despite the plethora of advisors that accompanied the minister to the Seanad, he wasn’t able to tell the house the percentage of the price of a litre of diesel is paid to the state in the form of duties and taxes. I think that is incredible.

"He did however confirm that there has been a fall of six per cent in income from this source. His government party colleagues have been vocal in the Seanad in recent weeks, about the need to tackle the excessively high price of fuel, but not one of them raised this matter during the course of this particular debate. Some commentators have estimated that some 80% of the cost of a litre of fuel goes toward the state, but the minister wasn’t able to clarify this for us. If this is in fact the case, we should reduce this in order to support those in the transport business, and indeed the public at large."

(CD/GK)