The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has expressed its dissatisfaction with the tolling arrangements for the new M3 motorway, from Clonee, Co. Dublin to Whitegate near Virginia, Co. Cavan.
Speaking to the Anglo Celt this week IRHA president Vincent Caulfield said HGV tolls on the route would add a burden to a sector that is already facing huge costs.
Caulfield said hauliers are paying the highest level of road tax in Europe and are also at the top of the league in terms of fuel duty and carbon tax.
“We are more than compensating for the wear and tear we are causing to the roads – tolls are a double taxation as far as we are concerned,” he is quoted as saying
Caulfield said that road hauliers are avoiding the toll charges on the M1 and M4 by continuing to use the old roads. They are doing this because they find the tolls an added cost that they cannot afford. He feels that the same will apply in respect of the new M3 thus defeating the purpose for which such new roads were built.
