Carol Nolan: Hauliers Taxed Out of Existence, Govt Must Act
Carol Nolan speaks as a rural TD about recent haulage and agricultural protests, calling on government to listen and take immediate action on tolls and driver shortages. She recounts visiting protest sites, and warns that hauliers face unsustainable costs that threaten rural employment.
Carol Nolan sets out why the haulage and agri sectors protested, describing them as interwoven parts of rural economies. She says successive governments failed to heed warnings and that the distress she witnessed over ten years as a TD was unprecedented.
Nolan recounts meeting hard-working contractors and small haulage companies at protest lines, and highlights the human cost of policy decisions. She stresses these businesses create vital local employment in counties such as Offaly and must not be pushed to the brink.
The TD cites IRHA warnings of a 4,000-driver shortfall over five years and claims punitive toll increases are costing the sector approximately €72,792 every single day, with some operators paying between £20,000 and £35,000 per month. She calls these charges an unrelenting burden on razor-thin margins.
Nolan urges the government to meet with Transport Infrastructure Ireland to address excessive tolls and to adopt practical solutions proposed by the sector. She commends IRHA President Ger Hyland for raising the issue and demands timely, sustained support for hauliers, agri contractors and related rural businesses.
Key points from the address
Carol Nolan sets out why the haulage and agri sectors protested, describing them as interwoven parts of rural economies. She says successive governments failed to heed warnings and that the distress she witnessed over ten years as a TD was unprecedented.
On-the-ground accounts
Nolan recounts meeting hard-working contractors and small haulage companies at protest lines, and highlights the human cost of policy decisions. She stresses these businesses create vital local employment in counties such as Offaly and must not be pushed to the brink.
Costs and figures raised
The TD cites IRHA warnings of a 4,000-driver shortfall over five years and claims punitive toll increases are costing the sector approximately €72,792 every single day, with some operators paying between £20,000 and £35,000 per month. She calls these charges an unrelenting burden on razor-thin margins.
Calls for action and accountability
Nolan urges the government to meet with Transport Infrastructure Ireland to address excessive tolls and to adopt practical solutions proposed by the sector. She commends IRHA President Ger Hyland for raising the issue and demands timely, sustained support for hauliers, agri contractors and related rural businesses.
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Transcript
Comhairle, I'm delighted to speak here on these statements this evening. As a rural TD, I have always strongly advocated for the haulage sector and indeed the agri sector, and both are interwoven in many respects. But I feel that with the recent protests, it was a sign that governments, not alone were they moving in the wrong direction, but they had completely taken their ear off the ground. And you need to have listening skills at all times in terms of effective communication, and I felt that effective communication wasn't there, and hence the protests. Now on the protests, I stood with many people, hard-working, decent, genuine people in Tullamore, in Bor and in Llanllan, where I heard directly from many agri contractors in particular and many small haulage companies who were trying to deal with the fact that their businesses were absolutely on knife edge, ready to go to the wall. It was an absolutely shocking situation that should never have arisen. And if the communication was there, as in the listening skills, and if you were heeding the warnings, it wouldn't have come to this. It actually wouldn't. And the distress that it caused to people was just, I'd never seen anything like it in 10 years as a TD. I've never seen the level of distress caused to people who were really grappling with so many issues. And these are people that create huge employment in rural counties like County Offaly, and it's not fair to do that. And it does appear at times, with the direction that this government is going in, I feel at times that those who work the hardest are punished the greatest. And I say that in terms of the haulage sector, in terms of the agri sector, in terms of the construction sector, and I met people from all of those sectors on the protest lines. You need to listen to those people, and I think that's something that needs to change and be learned from this. I want to commend IRHA President Ger Hyland, who has made the case many a time in here for the sector. He has also stated many a time that the sector is being taxed out of existence. So there needs to be a look at the way business is being done here. As I say, they're an important cog in the wheel of the Irish economy. They need to be supported, they need to be listened to, and there needs to be timely action taken. Because, as I say, it's so important that we do support the people who are contributing greatly to our economy. Hauliers are on the road 24 hours a day, 52 weeks of the year. Their need for certainty does not disappear because of a war breaking out, or because of a political decision that is taken elsewhere. Yet successive governments, unfortunately, waited for a crisis to emerge before they'd take action. I think, you know, that the crisis is there, government needs to act, and you need to continuously support these sectors. They're people who create much needed employment, as I say, particularly in rural counties. And, you know, the warning signs were there in plain sight. The chronic driver shortage that the IRHA has quantified at 4,000 additional drivers that are needed over five years. The punitive toll increases that are now costing the sector approximately €72,792 every single day, with some large operators paying anything between £20,000 and £35,000 per month. I mean, that is totally unacceptable. Now, I know that I met TII myself last year, I met the senior management of TII, and at that meeting I asked about toll-free barriers in the Dublin port tunnel in order to allow the trucks to move more freely. And I know, Count Corla, you've raised this in the chamber many a time. I commend you for that. But, again, it's an example that you're not listening. I mean, you should be able to intervene directly with TII. I mean, I met them already as an independent TD, so I'm asking government to meet them, but not alone about meeting them about the barrier-free tolls. You should be meeting them about the excessive toll charges. I mean, this is not sustainable for any sector. Not sustainable. So, those excessive toll charges need to be called out. There needs to be immediate meetings with TII to address those issues, because no business in this country can sustain that. Holliers are not asking for favours. They are the lifeblood of retail, manufacturing and rural economies. They pay diesel, tax, VAT, PAYE, PRSI, road tax tolls and the insurance levy. An unrelenting burden on margins that are razor thin, as has been pointed out. And, again, is that not an example of them being taxed out of existence? It absolutely is. When they warned that the toll avoidance would push HGVs onto unsuitable secondary roads, wasting millions of litres of fuel, they were ignored. Again, another fine example. Very practical solutions put forward, very constructive solutions put forward all of the time, and yet no listening happening and no action happening. There has to be a change of direction, because you know what? At times it feels like you have moved so far left that you've left behind the businesses and that you're divorced from reality.