The price of home heating oil in March was its highest level since 1996, while both diesel and petrol were at the highest levels since August 2022. This was the highest annual rate of inflation since January 2024, when the rate was 4.1pc. Home-heating oil contributed 0.52 percentage points towards the overall inflation rate in March. “The huge jump in inflation was driven entirely by oil prices, with motor-fuels inflation jumping to 10.6pc from -3.1pc, while heating-oil inflation also surged to 63.3pc from -7.3pc,” he pointed out. Inflation should ease back a little in April as the drop in energy prices and tax cuts feed through to pump prices.

Source: Irish Independent April 09, 2026 15:13 UTC