Rose Conway-Walsh: Demands Action to Cut Haulage and SME Costs
Rose Conway-Walsh addressed the minister on rising haulage and small business costs, urging urgent measures to cut haulage expenses, reverse fuel carbon tax increases, halt toll hikes and reduce administrative burdens. She criticised the government's rejection of targeted proposals, highlighted the Fastway receivership and pressed for supports in Budget 2026, including a temporary employer PRSI rebate as proposed in Sinn Féin's alternative budget.
Freight and the Western Rail corridor
The speaker opened by urging the minister to advance the Western Rail corridor, saying it should play an important part in addressing freight transport and in low-carbon developments as climate action advances.
Costs on hauliers and SMEs
She argued that when no alternative exists carbon tax becomes a revenue-raising exercise, increasing costs for hauliers and SMEs. She cited toll hikes and higher fuel carbon taxes as squeezing narrow haulage margins, making routes unviable and passing costs onto ordinary families, quoting industry comments that recent toll increases were "the straw that broke the camel's back."
Fastway receivership and worker impact
Rose Conway-Walsh highlighted the recent Fastway receivership, describing hundreds of workers, contractors and franchisees left in limbo, some owed weeks of pay and others facing debts from financed vehicles and franchise buy-in fees. She commended colleagues supporting those affected locally in County Leash and noted the collapse followed repeated industry warnings to government.
Budget 2026 and alternative proposals
She welcomed the minimum wage rise but said Budget 2026 failed to provide substantial help for employers facing high wage and operational costs. She summarised the group's proposals that were rejected: stop toll hikes, reverse carbon tax increases on fuel, end penalties for paying motor tax by instalments and ensure insurance reform benefits reach drivers, and reiterated Sinn Féin's proposal for a temporary employer PRSI rebate to support struggling employers.
Administrative burden and permit rules
The speaker criticised growing regulatory and administrative burdens on small family-run businesses, stressing these firms lack large compliance teams. She warned against proposed heavy-load transport restrictions requiring permits up to a year in advance, saying such red tape would delay infrastructure delivery and risk essential upgrades, including electricity works.
Final appeal
She urged the minister and other legislators to adopt urgent measures to cut haulage costs, support SMEs and safeguard local jobs before further damage is done.
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Minister, firstly I want to say you referred there to Road Freight Forum, but I couldn't be in front of you without mentioning the Western Rail corridor and the important part that will play in addressing freight transport in the future. I very much look forward to an imminent announcement to ensure that that is going to happen as quickly as possible, because also in your statement you refer to the climate action, obviously, and low carbon developments, and you know the carbon taxes has been an integral part of the government's response, the need to address climate change, but you see when there's no alternative then it just becomes a revenue raising exercise. It's not a tax to change behaviour and that is the big issue that I have with carbon tax and the extra costs that it's putting on hauliers and others. As was said by Deputy Daly, we tabled very clear and targeted proposals that would have cut the cost of driving for ordinary motorists and for the haulage industry only this week. We called on the government to stop the toll hikes which could have been done, to reverse the carbon tax increases on fuel, to end the financial penalties for paying motor tax in instalments, and to stand up to the insurance industry so that the benefits of the long-promised reforms were passed on to drivers. They were very clear, simple asks, but the government rejected every single one of those proposals and because of that the pressure on SMEs and on hauliers continues to mount, putting local jobs and local businesses at serious risk. The latest toll increases in the words of the IRHA was the straw that broke the camel's back. Increasing carbon taxes on fuel is eating into the narrow profit margins for haulage companies, making routes increasingly more unviable. Halliers bringing food to our supermarkets and delivering packages and orders from struggling SMEs are forced to pay these costs multiple times a day in the case of toll charges because there is no alternative. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Like everything else, these spiralling costs inevitably work their way onto the shelves and into the pockets or out of the pockets of ordinary families. Once again, it's the people who can least afford who are paying for the government in action. We saw the consequences of this crisis with the collapse of fast-awake careers last month. Hundreds of workers, contractors and franchisees are left in limbo. Some owed weeks of pay, others facing deep debts from the vehicles that they financed themselves or from the huge franchise buy-in fees. All this has come just weeks before Christmas for families. Indeed, I want to take this opportunity to commend the work of my own colleagues in Leash, Senator Marie McCormack and Councillor Clare Murray, who have been supporting all of those affected locally in County Leash, but obviously it spreads to County Mayo and indeed to other counties. Fastway receivership did not come without warning. The IHRA told the government months ago that the industry was on its knees and companies would collapse without intervention in Budget 2026, but the government did nothing and now it's the workers and the small operators who are paying the price. SMEs across the country are currently buckling under the rising wage costs, huge regulatory burdens and spiraling operational costs. Budget 2026 increased the minimum wage, which indeed was welcome and absolutely needed, but it failed to provide any substantial assistance for employers contending with high wage costs. And that's why Sinn Fein's alternative budget proposed a temporary employer, PRSI rebate, and that was to exactly to fill that gap. We are constantly receiving pleas from struggling small businesses from across all sectors to reduce the huge administrative burden placed upon them by government regulations. We're not talking about lifting regulations, but we're talking about the administrative burden that's put on these businesses. Valuable resources within small family-run businesses are being allocated for completing unnecessary levels of paperwork and bureaucracy. But what the government failed to understand is that these businesses don't have the large legal and compliance department behind them that maybe multinationals do. More often than not, it's the mum and dad in the family-run business sitting down outside of the hours or at the weekends trying to get all of that paperwork done. But instead of listening and supporting them by reducing the burden, we heard last week that the government is adding additional red tape for hauliers. The proposed restrictions on heavy load transport, potentially requiring permits to be applied for up to a year in advance, will add yet more ridiculous red tape to businesses that are already overwhelmed. Industry experts have flagged this and that this will cause major delays to essential infrastructure delivery and even risk electricity supply upgrades. So what are we doing here, Minister? Where is the common sense? While you and your government continue to ignore industry pleas, Sinn Féin will stand up for small and medium businesses, for hauliers and indeed for ordinary workers. So I urge you and those on the benches opposite to urgently adopt measures to cut haulage costs, to support our struggling SMEs and to safeguard local jobs before even more damage is done. Thank you.
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