Irish say they should not pay for Brit Discs
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• by Brendan Nolan Irish hauliers are up in arms over UK plans to introduce a Brit Disc, warning that customers will have to meet the cost of the new tax.
Operators in the Republic say they should not have to pay for vignettes because their government does not levy such a charge on UK hauliers. At least 90% of vehicles travelling from Britain into Ireland are registered in Ireland—North or South.
Hauliers point out that it is difficult to see what will happen to hauliers from the I Republic of Ireland travelling in Northern Ireland: the border between the two is the only land frontier between the UK and another country.
"It's going to be a pain in the backside for anybody living along the border who sends trucks to Northern Ireland on a daily basis," says one haulier who is based on the border.
The Irish Road Haulage Association has also condemned the proposal.
"Diesel fuel has increased twice in recent weeks—and now this," says !PHA president Gerry McMahan. "We cannot absorb any more increases so we have no alternative but to pass on the costs lathe customer."