Mr. Ger Hyland:

First, I will answer the question about subsiding HVO. For our industry, that is probably one of the most important things we are looking for. We know we need to decarbonise our industry. That measure is low-hanging fruit and very easy to do. We need help and support from the Government to do it, but they are not forthcoming. We are not getting them. We submitted a proposal again this year in our budget submission, which was backed up by a report we got done from PwC. Our figures were all justifiable and they all stood up, but we got no help this year in the budget again.

As an industry, our members are just so frustrated and exacerbated. We do not know where we are going to go. We are after getting another 2 cent per litre. For the average Joe, those 2 cents are an added expense on his fuel tank every week in his car, but for companies like mine that are buying 40,000 litres of fuel at a time, probably twice per month, they are huge. We are a small, rural-based company that is paying an average of €15,000 to €20,000 per month on tolls and now we have another 2 cent per litre on our fuel. The transport industry is probably one of the last industries left in rural Ireland. Unless we get help and support, we will follow other industries, such as our publicans and local shops. We will just disappear slowly but surely, one by one. A lot of our industry is made up of truck-based businesses with one to five trucks that employ local people, such as relations, next-door neighbours and one thing or another. The average age of our hauliers is 60. We are an island nation completely disjointed from Europe. Unless we get the proper support from the Government, our transport industry is slowly and surely dying on its feet.