A call for more tolls to pay for road development has been condemned by the Irish Road Hauliers' Association (IRHA).
IRHA President Mr Eamonn Morrissey attacked the National Roads Association (NRA) chairman, Mr Peter Malone, who yesterday said €2 billion extra is needed for road the building programme up to 2008 to be completed on time.
Mr Malone's plan would give the Minster for Transport, Mr Brennan, the opportunity to increase spending without affecting exchequer plans. The NRA wants nine new tolls introduced that would act like repayments for mortgage, allowing the money to be released before it was actuially raised.
But Mr Morrissey reacted angrily: "It's time for the NRA and the government [to recognise] that the cow has been milked dry.
"The calls for more funds come as no surprise from an organisation whose board is made up of political appointees with no input from transport stakeholders, no expertise in the area of infrastructural development and not even a representative from one of the many health and safety organisations which should be the primary objective in road building."
He said it was particularly galling for motorists and hauliers to hear more charges being mooted with a "fuels crisis" looming.
He said the Government were extracting over 50 per cent of the cost of a litre of fuel and forcing hauliers into a corner from which they would come out fighting.