Mattie McGrath: Defends Haulage Industry, Criticises Diesel Rebate

I am aware of that. I am well aware of it, with an amendment down. It certainly is. The haulage industry is so vital that you have one of your candidates now, actually, standing here in Wakeford, so you must be getting around to understanding how vital it is. As Deputy Fitzman has said, we have so little rail or canals or any other kinds of transport. The haulage industry is vital, vital to our survival, our exports, vital number one, and our imports, but our exports, any bit of farm projects that we have, there is very, very little that goes by air, and any bit of other goods that we export internationally is, first of all, by haulage. And the haulage industry, I salute them. I salute, you know, many of them are sadly small, very small, and now many of them have gone into one of five trucks, ten trucks, some of them into dozens and more, and they have gone through hell with the last number of years, with everything, with insurance, which you have done nothing about, literally, which this diesel rebate scheme then was introduced, but it's so difficult to reclaim. And, I mean, why can't you do something tangible, rather than having to kind of, goodness knows that diesel is so dear as it is, for a car or a van, I might say that, big trucks cost six, seven, eight hundred, maybe a thousand due to fill them. So, I believe that, you know, this, this, this rebate scheme isn't, isn't, doing what it says in the tin, hasn't been any haulage utility, they'll talk to you, and they'll have their annual night of lobbying here, next week or the week after, and they come every year. But we know, you must know that. Certainly, Minister Mourne and Minister, Minister Adassi must know, because it's a rural island, and many of the haulage companies are based in rural Ireland, some in Dublin as well, but they have, are struggling, and struggling. And, you know, I have been asked, you know, by many, many hauliers, with the RSA out there, and they're needed, certainly, but, there's, there's certain roads, and the one in W. O'Keefe's, uh, County, from, which is down to Mallow, and they've been checked regularly by the RSA, there's bushes hanging out in the road, and there's inclines in the road, and the damage to those trucks is shocking. And if the RSA wait in the other end, they just penalise the hauliers. The hauliers have to be of a very high standard now, and they are, and the trucks have techographs, and rightly so, and they have all the tests twice a year, and the trailers. But, driving one of these roads, one journey in this road, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, um, knocked out a kilter, the lining, the, the, the, the, the whole suspensions, and, indeed, mirrors, which could cost up to 500 quid for a mirror. So, they need to be supported in tangible measures, and we don't need to be victimised when there are, when there are, um, um, you know, issues like that. The RSA need to understand that the weight, the laden weight, that's all on the axles, I understand, it's my bit of myself, and the calibration of those axles can easily be shifted and distorted. And they're pulled in with a giant checkpoint with, uh, with, uh, with, um, uh, traffic corps, RSA, you name it, and the calibration checked, and it could be out, and that's brought to, uh, uh, weighing scales, and brought, maybe, a huge distance away, and, uh, gone through the rigors, and there are penalty points if there's issues. I mean, fair is fair, and let the people that, who have the trucks tested, they shouldn't be, uh, especially when we have the road network, the motorway is fine, yes, thank God, but we have the road network, and, and the, and the, the, the, um, the road haulers association have done many videos, where they have to drive out in the middle of the road to get out from the, from the, from the overhanging, uh, trees, otherwise they break their marrows. And, but, uh, this is only the rebate scheme, uh, that you, uh, introduced two years ago now, I think, it's just not, uh, simple, it's not, I won't say simple, but it's not easy to navigate, and that's what they're telling me. Now, I'm not a road hauler, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a contractor, certainly, and I understand the issues there, with no rebate scheme, so you might say, um, uh, a bird in the bush is better than a two in the hand, a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush, but, uh, certainly they want, sorry, lots of bushes, lots of bushes, that's the problem, you have Minister Madigan won't allow him to cut the bushes, she, we, we have two years of debating it here, and we finally passed that he could cut them with, under, under, under, under supervision, in, in, uh, in March, and indeed in, in, in, in August, of course she just drove her coat and fall through it, talked anyhow, you know him, Minister Madigan, the marrows, as I said, they just keep breaking off, and I mean, they're doing their best, they have huge onerous restrictions with the techograph, they have huge onerous restrictions with insurance, they have the drivers, I salute them too, and, and then what they have to face in Cali, with the time we're talking about the migrants and the difference, and the storeways, and they're trying to protect their trucks, innocent, unsuspecting drivers, and, like, there's all kinds of sophisticated methods now of getting access into their trucks with their sealed containers, apparently they can cut off the hinges, but, I mean, they have to live it all there as well, and, um, so, they need tangible support, and, and, it's an industry that's so vital, so vital to our economy, and you can laugh if you like about the Bushes, Minister, or the Bushels, or whatever you want to call them, but, um, they're a vital industry, give massive employment, and a massive service, dedicated service, to rural Ireland, whether it be the bolt tanks, going in and out, the boarines, and, you know, kick the milk, and, you know, as I said, a load of milk, a load of, uh, liquid in, it's much more difficult to transport, because it moves, it's ways, and you have to very careful, and respectful drivers, and, as I said, the RSA need to be pulled back, and give diminutive of the doubt, as I said, after travelling the road, if you keep, I'm sure you agree with me, it's such a desperate road, and needs improvement, and they travel that road, and they're waiting from the other end, and, might be perfect hitting that stretch of the road, and many other stretch of the road, this is one that I've been lobbied about, uh, by big haulage company from here, and, as I said, they're pulling the main den, the white overalls, lining under the trucks, with the calibrator chicken, for, uh, uh, lack of calibration, that is gross, the unfair, these are decent people, providing huge employment, ensuring that our, um, exports, and imports, but, exports mainly, we're talking about, are, got to the ports on time, and got to, across the channel, and, indeed, got to destinations on time, as we know, you're only a limited, uh, shelf life of many, many issues, and, they need to be supported, so, this scheme is too cumbersome, and, why the rebate, why not just, something across the board, because the diesel has gone up, enormously, in the last, year, so, why not giving something, up front, not to be paying it, and then wait, and come back, whatever, a couple of months after, I think, trying to claim it back, I know how difficult it is to get back, to get back, uh, rebates, or anything else, so, this is, is not working, Minister, and I'm, I'm appealing to you, um, for Deputy Fitzmaurice and myself, for appealing to you, to, in good faith, with the holidays, with the worries of Brexit, and everything else, to try and, show solidarity, show you a candidate in Wexford, good friend of mine, uh, Ms. Montefi, show that she's mean business, that you're not going to silence her, on any issues, support her, you're not going to call the Kayla, leave her, um, she's a good, um, lady, understands, intimately, the, the, the, you think I was canvassing for now, understands intimately, the, the, the, the pressures, the pressures of the whole industry, and, thank you, thank you, thank you, no, I mean, fair and fair, I, I, I, I praise the bridges, I go over, she knows her stuff, and, she's, well capable, thank you, thank you, Minister, thank you, uh, thank you very much, uh, Cahirloch, uh, I want to thank the deputies for their contributions, so Deputy Fitzmaurice has already, uh, gone through the issues here, uh, and, uh, uh, I won't repeat the views that we exchanged earlier on, I take a different view to the deputy, uh, on the matters that he's referring to, but, of course, I respect all he does know about these issues, and the way he's putting them forward, uh, Deputy McGrath, I don't believe, understands the haulage sector at all, uh, uh, he has no knowledge of us, uh, and he, uh, admitted himself that he's not a haulier, I'm not one either, Deputy, but I have significant engagement, uh, with the haulage sector, and, uh, the supports, the rebate scheme, the different changes that we have made available, are appreciated by the sector, are understood by the sector, uh, and have made a very big difference to the various issues that they have put forward now, over recent years, uh, uh, I, I support road safety, I support the road safety authority, the work that they are doing is very valuable, uh, for keeping our roads safe, for keeping those who are driving our trucks safe, and also for keeping other road users safe, you don't appear to place such a value on those matters, I do, uh, uh, and I believe the kind of work that is happening and the kind of work that the road safety authority are doing is absolutely critical, uh, for ensuring that those who are on our roads are safe, and for those who are driving, uh, our trucks are also kept safe too, the, uh, diesel rebate scheme that is in place is one, uh, that was put in place to recognize the importance of the haulage sector to our economy, uh, and when I, uh, this finance bill brought in a different level of carbon pricing, uh, we made the changes that were needed in the diesel rebate scheme, uh, to ensure that the haulage sector would receive a degree of enhanced protection from the higher level of carbon pricing, precisely because of the recognition that I have for the haulage sector here in Ireland, and for the, uh, really important role they play in moving goods around our country, uh, and for the critical role they play in our export sector. Uh, I understand the sector, uh, Deputy Mac McGrath, uh, Deputy Matthew McGrath, you don't. We are looking to put in forward and have put in place really significant supports for the sector that are understood and appreciated and recognized by them. Uh, I'll continue in that approach, uh, uh, but I also have to get the balance right between, uh, ensuring that, uh, anybody who is using our roads, anybody who's consuming diesel, uh, that the incentives that are there over time to try to be more energy efficient, to try to make the kind of change that we need to do while also having in place the kind of support that the haulage sector does need, which I have done and which this government has done. Thank you, Minister. Thank you. Thank you.