A 3.8p increase in the price per litre of super unleaded petrol was defended last night by a spokesman for the Department of the Environment, who said it was being done "for sound environmental reasons".
He pointed out that regular unleaded, which complies with EU standards, was going up by 1p per litre, like all other petrol of 95 octane. But super unleaded, at 97 octane, contained benzene, which was "a well known carcinogenic".
Super unleaded had been targeted for this reason and also because many Irish motorists tended to buy "super" grade petrol, rather than the regular alternative, he said. The differential in favour of regular unleaded was being maintained.