Vol. 525 No. 1
69 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Finance the response he intends to make to the road haulage sector in view of the 40% increase in its fuel costs over the past 18 months; the duty or VAT concessions he is prepared to make to ensure the continued viability of the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19754/00]
The issues raised by the road haulage sector in relation to increasing fuel prices will be considered in the context of the preparations for the forthcoming budget.
For the information of the Deputy, figures collected by the Central Statistics Office on a nation-wide basis and transmitted to the Revenue Commissioners show that the price of a litre of auto diesel at the pumps rose from 52.9p in mid May 1991 to 67.2p in mid August 2000. This represents an increase of 27.0%. For the same period, the increase on all CPI items was 26.4%. Fuel prices to hauliers for bulk supply are not tracked.
During the period from mid May 1997, just prior to the taking up office of the current Government, the price at the pumps rose from 56.7p to 67.2p. This represents an increase of 18.5%.
With regard to VAT, the road haulage sector in general is able to recover the VAT paid on its inputs such as fuel. VAT does not, therefore, impact on the costs to the haulage industry.
Question No. 70 taken with Question No. 33.
