IEA welcomes Budget initiatives but diesel increase to hit hard

Commenting on the Budget, The Irish Exporters Association (IEA) said that although there were many very welcome initiatives in the budget, the immediate impact on exporters will be the increase in excise duty on diesel.

Chief Executive of the Irish Exporters Association John Whelan said "This is the second year in a row that the Minister for Finance has hit the excise on diesel, this year by 5 cents per litre costing industry €94.8m per annum and last year by 3 cents per litre costing industry €52.5m. A total of increased cost on industry of €147.3m for goods imported and exported."

He said that this would add 0.4% to the rate of inflation bringing it to over twice the EU average, eroding export competitiveness.

Michael Counahan, President of the IEA said: "The long term strong commitment in the form of 5% of GNP, to infrastructural development, by the Minister was very welcome."

He also welcomed Stamp Duty Exemption on Intellectual Property, Tax Credit for R&D expenditure, and BES and Seed Capital all of which were lobbied for in the IEA pre-budget submission.