Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am familiar with the efforts made by the Irish Road Haulage Association in advance of the budget and the rationale it presented to the Minister. I welcomed the Minister’s decision to provide the rebate to rebalance the purchase of fuel from a European perspective. The challenge existed because of the practice of Irish road hauliers to fill up overseas. It made sense to try to bring that activity back home.

However, as with any action, there is a reaction somewhere else down the line. The difficulty is that a licensed road haulier who carries out international activity will in many cases also do domestic work, which might relate to the haulage of foodstuff or livestock. The impact on the operator who is outside the licensed regime will be that an unfair competitive advantage will be given to the licensed road haulier. While understanding and supporting what the Minister did, I make the point that in order to bring equity to the domestic market the rebate scheme must incorporate the relatively small number of operators who will now be at a disadvantage because they are, in effect, paying more for their diesel.

An issue also arises in terms of the small supplier of goods to the catering sector and the concrete manufacturer, among others. The amendment does not seek to resolve their issue but I signal to the Minister that we will table an amendment on Report Stage to address it. I ask the Minister to get his officials to examine the extent to which there is potential for distortion in the domestic haulage sector as a result of licensed hauliers being able to avail of the rebate scheme. Perhaps the Minister would consider the issue in advance of Report Stage.