Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 September 2022
29. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Transport if he has met with an industry (details supplied) in advance of Budget 2023; if additional supports will be offered in view of the significant pressures on the industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46201/22]
View answerThe Ukraine crisis continues to affect oil markets, causing a sustained increase in the price of crude and in the price of diesel.
As Minister of State at the Department of Transport with responsibility for International and Road Transport and Logistics I have regular engagements with the haulage sector. I most recently met with the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) on 20 September to discuss its views ahead of Budget 2023. I also attended and spoke at the IRHA Annual Conference earlier this month.
I will not pre-empt the Budget, however the Government is fully aware of the increased costs that the haulage sector, like many others, has been facing over recent months.
The Government has already taken a number of steps to support the sector.
In March, the Government approved specific financial support for the sector via the Licensed Haulage Emergency Support Scheme. The Scheme provided a temporary financial support of €100 per week, for eight weeks, for each eligible heavy goods vehicle authorised on the licence of a road haulage operator as of 11 March 2022. It was administered by the Department of Transport, and it is now closed. There was good uptake of the Scheme, with over €15.6 million paid out to c.3,100 operators.
In addition, the Diesel Rebate Scheme remains available to licensed haulage operators in respect of vehicles over 7.5 tonnes. At diesel prices over €1.43 (including VAT), the maximum rebate of 7.5 cent per litre is provided. It has always been the case that some operators that are eligible for the DRS do not take it up. The Department strongly encourages all such operators to make the most of the supports that are available.
Furthermore, tax debt “warehoused” during the COVID crisis remains at an interest rate of 0% for the remainder of this year.
More generally, the Government also acted to offset the rising cost of fuel through a reduction in Excise on fuels - a reduction of 20 cent on petrol and 15 cent on diesel fuel. While this measure was originally proposed to last until 31 August 2022 the Government has extended it out to Budget Day 2022. This measure provides assistance to all citizens and businesses to help mitigate the impact of recent fuel price increases.
Since early March with the benefit of the excise reduction, support under the Licensed Haulage Support Scheme and the ongoing Diesel Rebate relief, haulage businesses will have had the opportunity to revise and renegotiate contracts with their clients in order to reflect increased prices, as is an unfortunate reality in all sectors across the economy.
The Government has limited resources but through the Excise measure, as well as the Licensed Haulage Emergency Support Scheme, it has responded to help to ease the impact of these price increases.
