Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his reply. The statement was made by the president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Vincent Caulfield. Has the Minister any evidence of an increase in the presence of foreign road hauliers in this country? The Minister may be aware of the figures published by the Central Statistics Office which show a drop of 40% in the road haulage business over the past 12 months. The figures put forward by the Irish Road Haulage Association show that more than 200 haulage companies have gone out of business over the same time period. The haulage business is on the rocks and this reflects the state of the economy. Is there evidence of foreign hauliers working in this country? How does the Minister propose to improve the situation for road hauliers?

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