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Irish abolition 'window dressin
Page 8
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By Our Irish
THE IRISH Road Haulage Association has described its Government's plans to abolish the road freight and parcels division of the national transport company, Coras lompair Eireann, if they do not show a profit by the end of 1985 as "mere window dressing".
"I bet that next year the road haulage section will show a
profit," said IRHA president Correspondent Brendan Barrett. He also
claimed that CIE's road freight section was being subsidised in contravention of EEC rules. This had to be, he said, because of the rates CIE was quoting customers.
The plan to abolish the Transtrack parcels division and road freight section puts 1,900 jobs at risk. It was contained in the Irish Government's recent policy document for the next three years which has been formulated to reverse the country's economic fortunes and, in particular, control its public spending. CIE's annual deficit now stands at over 1R£100m (£83m) per annum.
However, the Government has stopped short of adopting the recommendations of the American consultants McKinsey and Company to "disestablish CIE as an entity".
Instead it will break CIE up into subsidy companies which will involve the separate administration of its buses and railways (see p24).
The protection traditionally given to railways is to be ended, but the plan has very little to say about this form of transport which, on the freight side, has been fairly static for the past seven years. It does, however, say: "There will be no substantial investment in railways."
The rail sundries or Transtrack parcels division was an obvious target for the Government's axe.
The McKinsey Report, which was published In 1980, blamed its poor performance on union resistance to a new handling system, faster delivery from licensed hauliers and changes in retail distribution patterns, such as the use of cash and carry facilities by small retailers.
The plan to abolish CIE's road freight section will be less traumatic as this has been wound down considerably in recent years and now accounts for scarcely two per cent of the Republic's road haulage business.
However it is likely that more professional hauliers will be scrambling for this business as the Government's plan has also reiterated the promise to liberalise the road freight industry made by Communications Minister Jim Mitchell in recent months.
"Legislation will be introduced in the next session to allow free availability of road freight licences," says the plan. "Standards will be maintained through a vigorous enforcement of regulations, particularly those relating to safety." But it gives no indication about any specific enforcement measures.
The plan does, however, note that the exchequer has been spending more to cover CIE's deficit than it does on road building. It proposes a 10 percent increase until 1987 in provisions for roads over those contemplated in the 1979 roads plan. This will bring State expenditure from 1R£101.65m in 1984 to 1R£155m in 1987.