Car hire should be cheaper this summer, transport consultant Conor Faughnan has said. 

The summer of 2022 saw tourists charged extortionate prices for car hire in Ireland - with some even cancelling their holidays because it was so unaffordable. 

One group was quoted €7,000 for seven days rental of a minibus and another bought a Mercedes for a cheaper price in Scotland than they were quoted to rent it in Ireland. 

Mr Faughnan said the industry has been “dysfunctional” across Europe but there was “nowhere worse than in Ireland” with prices up 265%.   

“It was a post-pandemic thing,” he told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“During the pandemic, obviously the car hire companies destocked; in Ireland we went down from 21,000 hire cars in the fleet down to about 10,000. 

“That happened right across Europe and there was a delay in restocking them.” 

2F38J1F Hand holding a car key - car sale & rental business concept, vintage tone

The war in Ukraine has disrupted global supply chains and complicated the work of car manufacturers - but Mr Faughnan said things are unlikely to be as bad as they were in 2022. 

“It should be a little better across Europe,” he predicted.

“Those factors are still there but they’re not as bad as they were last. 

“So, we shouldn’t see last year’s problem.” 

Mr Faughnan said there was a “good Easter season from the consumer’s point of view” and prices were “perfectly reasonable”. 

In 2022, some 7 million international tourists visited Ireland - a recovery of 73% compared to 2019. 

Despite this, the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation said many businesses “struggled to meet the surge in demand” after two very quiet years.

Main image: Rental cars in a parking lot.