Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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432. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on whether more needs to be done to improve competitiveness and reduce costs in the haulage sector; and the measures his department is considering in this area. [32705/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Forfás 2012 report, Cost of Doing Business in Ireland, identified the key components in transport competitiveness as fuel costs, distance from markets, competition and efficiency in the provision of transport services. The report pointed out that the cost of the internal movement of export goods in Ireland was the cheapest in the eurozone.

The Irish haulage market has low barriers to market entry, with no restrictions on the number of operators who can operate in any sector of the market.  There are currently over 17,000 vehicles being used to provide haulage services in Ireland, operated by 3,700 licensed haulage operators.  The ease of entry to the market, and the number of operators, makes the Irish haulage market a competitive one.

The Government provides a number of supports to the haulage sector, to ensure on-going competitiveness, both domestically and internationally.  A fuel rebate scheme for licensed haulage operators was introduced in 2013 by the Department of Finance, and has been renewed each year since.  This reduces the exposure of the sector to fuel price fluctuations.

Commercial motor tax rates were significantly reduced in Budget 2016, with the top rate of tax for Heavy Goods Vehicles being reduced from up €5,000 to €900, increasing the competitiveness of Irish hauliers in international markets.

My Department introduced a new online licensing system in 2013, which cut costs for hauliers by streamlining the processing of road transport operator licences.  The Department is currently improving this system, to make it more user friendly. In addition, my Department represents Ireland at international fora which deal with road haulage issues, to ensure that Irish hauliers get fair access to international markets.​