Irish hauliers are “really angry” with new Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien over his failure to meet them since taking office, and have claimed he is not following through on compensation promised by his predecessor over the closure of Holyhead.
Damage inflicted by Storm Darragh in December closed the Welsh port, adding to pressure on other routes between Britain and Ireland, and causing enormous disruption to trade routes.
Speaking on Friday, Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) president Ger Hyland said the group was “really angry” with Mr O’Brien and his officials for “not coming through on undertakings given” by previous minister of state at the department James Lawless.
When Holyhead was closed, hauliers underwent “massive challenges, difficulties, and massive costs”, he said, “and were promised compensation by minister Lawless”. The IRHA had been calling for compensation since before Christmas.
“We had a very engaging meeting with minister Lawless the day before he left office,” said Mr Hyland. “We discussed compensation and how it would look. We’re still waiting for the new Minister, who, ultimately, is in charge of the purse strings.”
A spokesman for the Department of Transport said a request by letter from the IRHA for financial supports was received on January 3rd. Questions on the submission were conveyed to the IRHA on January 14th, and a subsequent response was received by the department on January 20th.
“This material is being examined by officials and there will be further engagement with IRHA in due course,” said the spokesman. “Careful consideration is required in particular in any proposal to use public monies in support of private business where market forces may have already, or still could in the future, work to redress higher costs which arose during a temporary period.”
“Our members really need this financial assistance as a matter of urgency. We are angry and we feel let down. We are a very important part of the Irish economy. If we don’t work, the Irish economy doesn’t work,” said Mr Hyland.
“We wrote to him [Mr O’Brien] the very minute he was appointed, and we have been told we will get a meeting when he gets around to it. “There still hasn’t been progress on the compensation promised despite the hauliers giving all the further information that the department officials asked for,” he added.
“For such a key sector for Ireland’s economy the Minister should be meeting with IRHA anyway to get a proper understanding of the challenges that an island nation such as ourselves face.”
My Hyland said some haulage firms are now “on the brink”, and urged Mr O’Brien and his officials to “get up to speed with the private sector”.
“They are far too slow and this is not good enough,” he added. “They need to speed up and get with the programme, ambling along is just not good enough. Government don’t get the urgency, which is so unbelievable.”
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