Louth Quality Fuel Scheme Hailed A Success

Almost one year after the launch of the Irish Petrol Retailers’ Association (IPRA) Quality Assurance Scheme in Co Louth, local retailers are claiming that the scheme has proved very beneficial for business.

The scheme was set up in response to local members’ in Dundalk who wanted to reassure their customers that the fuel they sold was of a consistently high quality and that it met current Irish fuel specifications.

Retailers who joined the scheme have displayed the QA logo at their garage and have taken out regular adverts in local press to keep consumers informed.

The members are identified as being part of a QA scheme on the ‘find a petrol retailer’ map at www.ipra.ie. As part of the scheme, any retail member must verify their suppliers and sign up to a random testing protocol.

Members are reporting a brisk increase in fuel business and attribute this to consumers wanting to be sure that the fuel they are buying is the genuine product.

Senator Mary Moran, who was present when the scheme was launched last August, said that she was delighted to see that it had been of such benefit to fuel retailers: “Abused fuel costs the government in excess of €150m per annum,” she said recently.

“Some people may think that using ‘cheap’ fuel and avoiding duty is a victimless crime, but the revenue evaded could be used elsewhere in the community.”

And David Blevings, spokesperson for the IPRA said that the scheme could offer consumers the satisfaction of knowing that the fuel they purchased met current Irish road fuels specification.