IRHA is accused of Dublin price fixing
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by Declan Cullen and Sally Nash • The Irish Road Haulage Association has found itself the target of a "Gestapo-like" raid on its offices by Government authorities after being accused of fixing haulage rates out of Dublin Port.
Officials from the Competition Authority swooped on IRHA offices at the end of May and spent six hours copying documents. The raid followed complaints from shipping companies that the IRHA was breaching competition laws by organising a meeting of hauliers to set and publish minimum tariffs for work out of Dublin port.
Hauliers had threatened a walkout from the port from 1 July if they did not receive a rates rise, claiming that rates had been stagnant for over a decade (CM 15-21 May).
Pandora, part of the P&O group, has issued a plenary summons against the IRHA, requiring the association to appear before the High Court to respond to the anti-competition claims. Pandoro argues that the IRHA instigated a price cartel which could injure its business.
The IRHA has hit back at Pandoro's position, accusing it of "heavy handed, jackboot tactics". A spokesman says that the association has the right to represent its members but had no intention of setting up a cartel and would comply with any High Court ruling.
However, if the hauliers decided to withdraw their services he warns that the IRHA could do nothing to stop them.
Feelings are running so high that hauliers might even be prepared to spend time in jail for the cause, he adds, and the row could spread to Rosslare and Northern Ireland. "This could well backfire on Pandora," he warns.
Robert Talbot, general manager of Pandora in Ireland, says the matter is "in the hands of the company's legal advisers".