On the roads, you can’t have it both ways
They cannot have it both ways; if they claim that taxes are charges, they are tax-exempt.
The damage caused by road is proportional to the fourth power of the axle weight. HGVs are mainly responsible for damage to roads — they do not pay the externalised costs — the fact is they are very heavily subsidised. It is nonsense to say they are fighting to survive; with whom?
They are all in the same boat and simply pass their costs on to the consumer. If higher costs create the more efficient use of road transport, the gain will be in reduced congestion, lower road costs, less pollution and CO2 emissions and fewer crashes.
There is a severe economic depression, the health and education services are being dismantled and every person is suffering to some extent. The least deserving of government largesse are truckers.
Michael Job
Glengarriff
Co Cork
