January 19, 2012 – Hauliers are furious with the Governments failure to acknowledge the difficulties within the sector as a result of the ever-increasing cost of diesel.

The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) is currently holding regional branch meetings to obtain feedback from members as to their preferred response to the Government budget of 2012.

At a meeting in Cork last week hauliers vented their anger. Road haulage operators are particularly incensed that further to the Associations proposals for an essential user fuel rebate, which the IRHA says would bring about a substantial net gain for the exchequer has not been implemented.

IRHA President Eoin Gavin commented: Diesel prices continue to increase and yet there has been no initiative by Government to support our sector, either through a fuel rebate or through the abolition of green fuel. Our research suggests that there is a loss of approximately 300 million in fuel duty through out-of-state re-fuelling and our proposal for a fuel duty rebate would bring that lost duty back into the exchequer as well as covering the administrative cost of introducing such a scheme. The current working environment is simply not sustainable and immediate action will need to be taken by the Association.