Irish hauliers have expressed concern about the rising fuel prices, while taxi drivers in Dublin will make an application next week for increased fares to compensate them for recent increases. The Irish Road Haulage Association will convene a "crisis meeting" tomorrow to discuss what action it can take.
The taxi drivers say that while the price of fuel has increased by up to 40 per cent over the past 18 months, there has been no fare increases since 1998.
Mr John Usher, of the Irish Taxi Drivers Federation, said taxi drivers here were watching the situation in France closely.
"We are very concerned about the cost of fuel and there is a possibility we will have some kind of protest," he said. "I think if everybody sits back and lets them keep increasing prices there will be no end to it."
Mr Usher said 70 per cent of Dublin taxis ran on diesel and a full tank cost £10 more now than it did a year ago. Figures supplied by the Automobile Association showed the average cost of one litre of unleaded petrol had increased by 14.2p a litre in the year to May 2000 and one litre of diesel had increased by an average of 11.63p over the same period.
The general secretary of the National Taxi Drivers' Union, Mr Tommy Gorman, said that if price increases continued his union would have to consider seeking some form of subsidy or rebate from the Department of Finance. He said the issue would be raised at an executive meeting of the 2,500-member union on Tuesday. "There is a fair amount of resentment at what is happening," he confirmed.
Mr Gorman said that taxi drivers were in a unique situation in that they had to seek local authority approval, in this case the approval of Dublin Corporation, to increase their fares. Other businesses, however, could increase the price of their products to compensate for higher transport costs. "If fuel prices go out of hand we should be able to put on a surcharge," he said.
Asked if his members would consider industrial action, he said he couldn't rule out anything.
Mr Gerry McMahon, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, said a special meeting of the association's national council would take place tomorrow to decide what action it would take following the rejection by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, of its proposals to reduce the effects of fuel price increases on hauliers.
Mr McMahon said independent hauliers were meeting over the weekend to discuss recent increases in the price of diesel. "The feeling we get is that they will take some form of action next week. How bad or how consequential that will be we don't know at this stage. Anything could happen," he said.
Mr McMahon moved to distance the IRHA from such meetings, stating that the organisation would not "incite" rogue protests.
The IRHA's proposals, he said, included a 20 per cent cut in excise duty for road diesel and a scheme for reimbursement. Mr McCreevy said that while he was sympathetic to their plight he could not consider their proposals until he came to preparing the Budget later this year.
Mr McMahon said: "A lot of our members are in a critical situation and want something done straight away."
He felt mounting blockades in the Republic would be a last resort for his members. "But we are aware that a lot of independent hauliers countrywide have meetings scheduled for this weekend to discuss the fuel problems and the indications we have is they will take some sort of wildcat action next week."
The increased cost of fuel is also of concern to airlines. Ryanair's Mr Michael Cawley said if fuel prices kept going up airline fares would in general have to be increased also.
However, he stressed that the present current cost of fuel had not impacted on Ryanair fares.