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Charge boost for cowboys
Page 8
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Law-abiding hauliers in Northern Ireland fear that the Lorry Road User Charge will just simply give the cowboys a greater advantage. Dominic Perry reports.
OPERATORS IN Northern Ireland fear they may lose work to unscrupulous Irish tax dodgers when the Lorry Road User Charge is introduced in 2006. They are now calling for urgent clarification as to how the new tax will work. They are particularly concerned that thanks to the large number of unmonitored border crossings with the Irish Republic it will be almost impossible to prevent unscrupulous Irish operators from avoiding the charge.
There are also fears that the province will see a number of opera tors relocating south of the border in order to take advantage of this.
The border is widely acknowledged to be 'porous' with laundered or illegal diesel and other contraband regularly being smuggled across Phil Flanders, the Road Haulage Association's director for Scotland and Northern Ireland, says operators there need clarity: "As well as prompting more firms to use the ferry routes to Lancashire rather than Stranraer and affecting any future investment there, the big worry is that it will affect business and the competitiveness of the North."
Mark Woodside, boss of Belfast-based Woodside Haulage, says:"Northern Ireland,is in many ways a special case and they need to come up with a workable solution to protect the Northern Irish haulier. It's all very well having a plan for the whole of Great Britain but it's not going to be workable herethat's the reality of it.
A meeting between RHA and FTA members and Customs & Excise was held this week to discuss the issue.