The threat of strike action from hauliers continues to be on hold following a “positive” meeting on Friday with Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien.
The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), which is the representative body of the licensed road haulage industry in Ireland, is due to meet the minister again next week but is hopeful that more measures to deal with the cost of fuel will be proposed by European Union transport ministers next week.
In an online meeting with O’Brien, the IRHA advocated for extra support to help its members cope with the rising cost of fuel due to the ongoing US–Israel war on Iran.
A spokesman for the IRHA said it was not being “prescriptive” in its demands to Government, but believes there are a number of options that Minister could consider. One would be an enhanced diesel rebate scheme, or another round of the Licensed Haulage Support Scheme (LHSS) which was set up in 2023 to ease pressures caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The LHSS scheme was an €18 million fund that offered grant payments to smaller haulage operators per HGV. The spokesman for the IRHA said the scheme “could be re-enacted” as the systems and software that ran it the first time are already in place.
The Government has asked the IRHA to collect specific examples of the economic harm suffered by some of its members. After O’Brien attends a meeting with European colleagues next week, the IRHA is due to meet the Minister again.
The spokesman said O’Brien was “sympathetic”. “We are engaged in talks, so strike action is paused at the moment,” he said.
In a statement, O’Brien said that he had “reiterated my strong support for the haulage industry, which plays a vital role in keeping supply chains and the wider economy moving.”
“I remain committed to ongoing engagement with the IRHA and the sector, and used the meeting to hear concerns directly,” he said.
O’Brien said that the situation remains “fluid, and so too will our response.”
Meanwhile, a Labour TD has called on the Government to consider making public transport free as part of a plan to try to conserve energy use and change behaviour.
Ciaran Ahern said that now that it was clear that this may be a “long-term crisis,” the Government should consider more energy conservation and cost of living measures that rely on a change in behaviour, like more remote working and free public transport.
“I certainly am of view that, coupled with a right to remote and flexible work, that we should definitely be trialing free public transport so that people who want to and people who aren’t able to get into work, will be able to do so cheaply by public transport,” he said
Ahern said free public transport had been trialled in parts of Australia, and was also being considered by New York. “So it’s something that is on the agenda internationally. It’s something that I think should be kind of a North Star for us when it comes to it comes to public transport policy, but in a situation like this, it’s an opportunity to change behaviours.”