Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 81:

In page 90, to delete line 28 and substitute the following: "subsection (4).

(3A) The Minister shall, before 1 January 2020, publish a report on emergency mechanisms which may be introduced to reduce the impact of a spike in oil prices on road transport operators.".".

The matter to which this amendment relates is one that is continually raised with us by hauliers. I am not bad at mathematics but one would need to be an actuary to work out the calculation that has evolved in respect of this matter. I do not propose to go into it in detail. The difficulty relates to the cap under the current rebate system whereby if there is a spike in oil prices, hauliers carry the can for it. Officials in the Department of Finance love certainty. Sadly, in terms of oil prices, there can be no certainty into the future. We all are aware of the impact on production this autumn that led to a spike in fuel prices. We are talking about a region of the world which is inherently unstable and in which there is piracy taking place at present. We should not allow for a situation whereby Irish hauliers and exporters end up footing the bill for instability in the Middle East. There is need for greater engagement with the hauliers to put in place a robust system. It is on that basis I have tabled this amendment.