Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 November 2016
679. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason haulage companies have to pay a tariff when entering Northern Ireland; the reason the reverse is not the case in the interests of equity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34666/16]
View answerThere are no tariffs on cross-border traffic within the EU's customs union. I presume the Deputy is referring to the UK HGV road user levy. The Irish Government had serious concerns about the introduction of the HGV road user levy in the UK, including Northern Ireland, and extensively lobbied the UK authorities to exempt Northern Ireland from the charge because of the potential impact on cross-Border trade. However, the UK Minister for Transport chose to give only very minor exemptions from the levy to Northern Ireland. Subsequently, the Irish Government, supported by the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment, sought an exemption for the A5 from Derry to Monaghan, as it is a significant transit route from North West Donegal to Dublin. This request was also ultimately not accepted. While it is appreciated that the levy has imposed significant additional costs on Irish hauliers operating across the region, the application of the levy is a matter for the UK authorities.
Road charging systems for HGVs have been introduced in 10 EU Member States under Directive 1999/62/EC, as modified by Directives 2002/38/EC and 2011/76/EU. This Directive set out the legal basis for charging HGVs for the use of road infrastructure and authorises Member States, if they so wish, to levy user charges, which can be time-based, for example per day, week or year, or distance-based, calculated on the basis of number of kilometres driven.
The introduction of a road user charge for HGVs in Ireland is under consideration in my Department.
