Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My question is based on the Forfás report and the concerns raised therein. Much has been said about the capacity of our export sector to drive economic growth. We must be concerned when Forfás raises issues about competitiveness at the present time. The road haulage sector, in particular, argues that some issues of concern are still impacting on the sector's ability to provide a competitive service.

While the introduction of the fuel rebate is welcome, there is the issue of the way in which road tax in this State is applied to haulage companies. They have a view, which has been presented to the Government, that road tax should be applied to usage rather than levied on an annual basis. The issue of cabotage, and the external competition that the road haulage industry faces from trucking companies based outside the State, makes it more difficult for them, requiring them to deal with what they consider to be over-zealous competition and requiring them to charge higher rates. Obviously anything that could be done in this regard would be helpful in terms of making our exports more competitive.

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