Hauliers concerned over proposed tolls

IRISH Road Haulage Association president and Bunratty businessman Eoin Gavin has claimed introducing new tolls would damage the country’s competitiveness.
Commenting on the fact the National Roads Authority (NRA) has commenced a process of examining means of generating additional revenue through new tools on existing roads, Mr Gavin said, “As a primarily exporting nation, Ireland needs to ensure that its exports are as price-competitive as possible. Introducing a network of additional tolls around Ireland would be a profoundly punitive measure, which would, quite simply, increase costs on exports and reduce our ability to compete across a range of sectors.
“The value of Irish exports reached €161 billion last year, the highest annual figure ever recorded. Such moves to discourage and stem the flow of goods are entirely inconsistent with Ireland’s open-for-business ethos, which is being advocated from all quarters at this challenging time.”
Mr Gavin also called for a review of the current systems. “A task force should be established immediately to review the road tax and tolling systems in Ireland. The current double taxation of road tax and tolling is not balanced and unfairly penalises the road haulage sector. A euro vignette-style system should be introduced, which would have one method of collection and is based on a pay-as-you-go system.”
He claimed the Irish haulage sector pays the highest level of road tax in the country, while they also pay nearly the highest amount in Europe in terms of fuel duty and carbon tax.