Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)

There definitely are issues. We can agree to disagree but there are issues.

I have a final question. I thank the Chair for allowing me the opportunity to contribute. We have a carbon tax allocation of €950 million in 2025. Haulage companies are under severe pressure. Mr. Ger Hyland has outlined some of the costs they have to bear year after year with no incentives. I was strongly opposed to the carbon tax and I still am. If we cannot get rid of it, however, something needs to be ring-fenced to subsidise the haulage sector, which is an important part of our supply chain. While the proper thing to do would be to exempt the haulage sector and agricultural sector, which is vital for food production, from the carbon tax, if that cannot be done, we need to look at ring-fencing an amount so that they are supported directly in their sectors. That would keep their trucks on the road and allow them to keep doing the good work they are doing.

I have another question for Mr. Hyland. In the context of supports, the effectiveness of the zero-emission heavy duty vehicle purchase grant scheme was in Ireland’s Road Haulage Strategy 2022-2031. My sense of that when I read it was that it was putting the cart before the horse because how can a haulage firm be expected to have the money to purchase one of these vehicles, even with the grant, if it is already inundated with costs? Did many people avail of that grant? Would practical measures to support hauliers, such as rebate packages or subsiding HVO, be better than the purchase of heavy duty vehicles, which is putting the cart before the horse?