Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

The Minister of State referred to the road freight forum. I could not be in front of the Minister of State without mentioning the western rail corridor and the important part it will play in addressing freight transport in the future. I look forward to an imminent announcement to ensure this is going to happen as quickly as possible. The Minister of State also referred in his statement to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. The carbon tax has been an integral part of the Government's response to the need to address climate change but when there is no alternative, it just becomes a revenue-raising exercise. It is not a tax to change behaviour. That is the big issue that I have with the carbon tax and the extra cost it is putting on hauliers and others.

As Deputy Daly said, only this week we tabled very clear and targeted proposals that would have cut the cost of driving for ordinary motorists and for the haulage industry. We called on the Government to stop the toll hikes, which could have been done, to reverse the carbon tax increases on fuel, to end the financial penalties for paying motor tax in instalments and to stand up to the insurance industry in order that the benefits of the long-promised reforms are passed on to drivers. They were clear and simple asks, but the Government rejected every single one of those proposals. Because of that, the pressure on SMEs and on hauliers continues to mount, putting local jobs and businesses at serious risk. The latest toll increase, in the words of the IRHA, was the straw that broke the camel's back. An increase in carbon taxes on fuel eats into the narrow profit margins for haulage companies and makes routes increasingly unviable. The hauliers who bring food to our supermarkets and deliver packages and orders from struggling SMEs are forced to pay these costs multiple times a day in the case of toll charges because there is no alternative. It is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Like everything else, these spiralling costs inevitably work their way onto the shelves and out of the pockets of ordinary families. Once again, it is the people who can least afford it who are paying for Government inaction. We saw the consequences of this crisis with the collapse of Fastway Couriers last month. Hundreds of workers, contractors and franchisees are left in limbo, some owed weeks of pay and others facing deep debts from the vehicles that they finance themselves or from the huge franchise buy-in fees. All this has come just weeks before Christmas for families. I commend the work of my own colleagues in Laois, Senator Maria McCormack and Councillor Claire Murray, who have been supporting all of those affected locally in County Laois. Obviously it spreads to County Mayo and other counties. Fastway's receivership did not come without warning. The IRHA told the Government months ago that the industry was on its knees and companies would collapse without intervention in budget 2026, but the Government did nothing. Now it is the workers and the small operators who are paying the price. SMEs across the country are currently buckling under the rising wage costs, huge regulatory burdens and spiralling operational costs.

Budget 2026 increased the minimum wage, which was welcome and needed, but it failed to provide any substantial assistance for employers contending with high wage costs. That is why Sinn Féin's alternative budget proposed a temporary employer PRSI rebate to fill that gap. We are constantly receiving pleas from struggling small businesses from across all sectors to reduce the huge administrative burden placed upon them by Government regulations. We are not talking about lifting regulations; we are talking about the administrative burden that is put on these businesses. Valuable resources within small family-run businesses are being allocated for completing unnecessary levels of paperwork and bureaucracy. What the Government fails to understand is that these businesses do not have the large legal and compliance department behind them that multinational companies do. More often than not, it is the mum and dad in the family-run business sitting down outside of the hours or at the weekends trying to get all of that paperwork done. Instead of listening and supporting them by reducing the burden, we heard last week that the Government is adding additional red tape for hauliers. The proposed restrictions on heavy-load transport, potentially requiring permits to be applied for up to a year in advance, will add yet more ridiculous red tape to businesses that are already overwhelmed. Industry experts have flagged this and stated that it will cause major delays to essential infrastructure delivery and even risk electricity supply upgrades.

What are we doing here? Where is the common sense? While the Minister of State and the Government continue to ignore industry pleas, Sinn Féin will stand up for SMEs, hauliers and ordinary workers. I urge those on the benches opposite to urgently adopt measures to cut haulage costs, support our struggling SMEs and safeguard local jobs before even more damage is done.

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