Toll increases 'straw that broke the camel’s back' as hauliers threaten blocking Dublin motorway

Transport Infrastructure Ireland announced last month tolls on several motorways will increase from January 1. File picture: Colin Keegan

Hauliers are not ruling out blocking the M1 and having rolling protests at Dublin Airport amid ongoing anger about rising costs facing the sector.

Ger Hyland, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, told the Irish Examiner “everything is on the table” and there is an “appetite” among the group’s membership for protest.

He also suggested the closure of Fastway Couriers was the “tip of the iceberg”.

The hauliers have requested a meeting with Taoiseach Micheál Martin to discuss their concerns.

Mr Hyland said there was “big disquiet” within the association caused by news tolls would increase again from January.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland announced last month tolls on several motorways will increase from January 1.

For heavy goods vehicles on the M50, trucks with video tags will see their journeys increase from €7 to €7.20, while tolls for unregistered vehicles will rise from €7.70 to €7.80.

Mr Hyland said the increase was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, as he called for hauliers to be allowed to pass through the M50 toll for free

“We’re an essential industry,” he said.

If our trucks don’t move, your cornflakes don’t arrive on your table.

Haulage sources told the Irish Examiner the industry's frustration could lead to strikes and protests. This, they said, could include blockages at the M1 near the Dublin Port Tunnel and “rolling” weekly protests at Dublin Airport. Protests could also impact the delivery of goods in the run-up to the busy Christmas period.

When this was put to Mr Hyland, he said “everything is on the table”.

“I feel very much like the little boy in Holland with his thumb in the dam,” he added.

“I'm trying to hold back the tide here because there is certainly an appetite among our members for protest.

“We had a council meeting a couple of weeks ago, and the consensus of that meeting with a lot of the hauliers was protest."

Fastway Couriers’ parent company, Nuvion Group, announced last month it had entered receivership, with Irish vans immediately taken off the road and 300 jobs put at risk.

Mr Hyland said this was “only the tip of the iceberg” and companies were pulling out of the haulage industry every week.

“It's Government-imposed costs. Our sector is paying tax upon tax upon tax.

There is no other industry in this country as heavily taxed or as heavily policed as the transport industry. We certainly need a break.

A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said Mr Martin had “engaged with representatives of the haulier sector and is looking to schedule a meeting with them shortly to listen to their concerns”.