Government will review issues around fuel rebate levels currently available to Irish hauliers as part of efforts to address the rising cost of living, according to independent TD, Carol Nolan.
The TD for Laois Offaly said that the tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, confirmed to her in the Dáil that this will proceed in the coming days.
Minister Varadkar was responding to a request from Deputy Nolan for Irish fuel rebate levels to be brought in line with those of other EU states, which in some instances are up to three times the rate available in Ireland, she said.
Deputy Nolan also raised the need for government to actively support the upgrading of the national haulage fleet to EURO 6 engines, which have the capacity to dramatically reduce emissions.
“I have been in continuous contact with the Irish Road Hauliers Association, recently, and they have made it clear to me that there is an urgent need to immediately revise the fuel-rebate system,” Deputy Nolan said.
“For the last number of years, the rebate system here has been placing our hauliers at a serious competitive disadvantage. If the status quo is maintained that disadvantage will deepen significantly, especially as the Ukrainian crisis is likely to push up energy and transportation costs right across the board.”
She said the national HGV fleet, comprised of about 24,000 vehicles, is responsible for 86% of the movement of goods for the Irish economy.
“They travel more than 5 million kilometres per day and use over 1.5 million litres of fuel per day. This works out to nearly 500 litres per truck per week, which supports the statement that a haulier’s arctic burns in a week what a house burns in a year in fuel oil.”
Given this level of fuel consumption, and the strategic importance of the haulage and transportation sector, it is absolutely critical that the rebate and the upgrading issues are acted on as soon as possible, Deputy Nolan said.