Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Recent legislation which aimed to provide emergency support to members of the haulage industry was somewhat welcome. However, a substantial portion of the sector has been excluded. This week I have been contacted by Gleeson Concrete, which operates in Donohill, County Tipperary, as well as north Cork and Limerick. They are reliant on their hauliers but pointed out that while some delivery fleet personnel in the industry hold a haulage licence and will benefit from the emergency measure, the majority of International Coaching Federation member companies are own account operators and therefore not required to hold a haulage licence. As a result, they are ineligible for the Government's support measures despite incurring the same level of cost increases as licensed hauliers. Coach and school bus operators have also fallen foul of this with school transport operators locked into contracts of up to five years at a time. Is the Government giving consideration to extending the measures to the many operators in the State that do not meet the limiting criteria it has set down? Over 6,000 people are directly employed in the sector.

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