Irish hauliers are being charged to use infrastructure they’re helping fund. Photo: Getty
Irish hauliers are being forced to pay an “unfair” €40m levy for driving in Britain and Northern Ireland, they claim.
And the truckers have demanded that the Government here make its financial backing of the key A5 motorway plan in Northern Ireland contingent on the removal of the levy.
The hauliers are subject to a reintroduced heavy goods vehicle (HGV) levy in the UK when operating in the North.
There is no reciprocal levy on Northern Ireland or UK-based hauliers operating in the Republic.
All HGV operators are currently required to pay a £10 levy for any day a truck travels on a main road in the UK, or face fines of up to £300 and the potential impoundment of vehicles.
Removing the levy would boost cooperation and integration across the island
Northern Ireland’s Department of Finance collects the levy from Irish-based operators crossing into the North daily.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, an annual total of €39.7m was collected, with an average monthly revenue of €3.3m generated from these levies at the 15 official border crossing points
In a briefing document sent to Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien, the hauliers said that they welcomed the Government’s support of the A5 upgrade project – an infrastructure development aimed at improving regional and all-island connectivity between Donegal and Monaghan.
“Considering the Irish Government’s proposed financial investment in the A5 project, we strongly urge that any such funding be conditional upon the abolition of – or, at a minimum, a formal derogation from the UK HGV levy for Irish-based hauliers transiting through or operating within Northern Ireland,” it said.
“It is inequitable and counterproductive that Irish hauliers are being charged to use infrastructure they are helping to fund.”
It added that removing the levy would boost cooperation and integration across the island and “strengthen North–South economic relationships”.
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