Target Express owner: We were catching up on payments

The owner of Target Express says his company fell behind on its payments to Revenue, but they were catching up fast.

Last night, the haulage company confirmed that it is to cease trading with the loss of almost 400 jobs after the Revenue Commissioners froze the company's bank accounts.

Speaking this morning, owner Seamus McBrien said his company had paid €1m in the last few weeks and was on the road to repaying the remaining €300,000 by the end of September.

Mr McBrien claims the company proposed a deal which would see it pay €175,000 off the bill yesterday, so the attachment on the account could be lifted but the deal was rejected by Revenue.

A small number of workers arrived at Target Express in Mulhuddart in Dublin this morning to locked gates.

They say they are there to tie up any loose ends and deal with any remaining customer queries.