Companies hire foreign drivers to avoid penalty points
They are replacing Irish drivers with drivers carrying EU licences, as these licences can’t be given penalty points, officers say.
Haulage companies along the border are employing drivers from the North as they have UK licences, which again avoid penalty points.
Officers say there has been a huge increase in the haulage industry with a doubling of goods vehicles, from 90,000 to 180,000 between 1981 and 2001.
It’s estimated that 70,000 lorries pass through Dublin alone in one day.
Many drivers are enticed to Ireland by offers of accommodation, meaning they are often dependent on employers for the jobs and homes.
Garda Pat Dowd of the Dublin Traffic Unit told the Garda Review, the journal of the Garda Representative Association, that drivers have reported that one relatively established company got rid of its Irish drivers and replaced them with Eastern Block drivers, who work for substantially lower pay.
“The new drivers sleep in the lorries and wash in the newly installed showers in the company yard. Allegedly, the company achieved a 72% drop in wage costs.
“Gardaí learn of such tactics from the drivers when they pull them over, particularly Polish drivers who have good English, but allegations are difficult to prove because by the time many offences get to court the drivers have moved on.”
Gardaí have found that in the border areas there was evidence that a lot of companies use drivers from the North with UK licences.
Garda Dowd said that “cuter” Irish drivers acquire UK licences through British addresses to avoid penalty points.
The president of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), Vincent Caulfield, said he would be surprised if firms with vehicles worth €150,000 would encourage anyone to break the law.
The IRHA represents about 1,000 of the estimated 5,000 operators in Ireland.
