The insurance industry was accused today of "profit making" on the backs of haulage companies.
Speaking to ireland.comthis morning, Mr Gerry McMahon, spokesman for the Irish Road Hauliers Association(IRHA), said insurance costs for trucks had risen by up to 130 per cent over the past 18 months - with the majority of the increases introduced since January this year. These increases are "exorbitant" he said.
Earlier this morning, 12 trucks participated in what Mr McMahon descried as a "token protest" outside the Irish Insurance Federation offices in Dublin. He said the purpose was to highlight the fact that many hauliers are being forced out of business because of costs.
"We have exhausted every angle and avenue available to us in an effort to find some kind of solution," Mr McMahon said
"Protests are the last resort. We don’t want to be out on the streets; we’d prefer to be working, but if nothing is done to improve the situation then we have no choice but to continue the protests."
Mr McMahon also said that although the Government had been in talks with the IRHA about the situation, nothing concrete had been delivered.
A report into the insurance industry in Ireland which was commissioned two years ago and which, he believes, contains recommendations that might remedy the situation has yet to be published although, he says, the Government has promised to release it either this week or next.
Currently, an internationally-bound truck costs upwards of €15,000 as opposed to IR£5,000 last year, while a similar truck in Holland, he says, would cost in the region of €5,000.
"Two weeks ago Con Transport closed with the loss of 80 jobs," Mr McMahon added.
"Although that particular case did hit the headlines because 80 people lost their jobs, none of the smaller closures - companies that employ ten or 20 people - have been reported.
The IRHA will discuss the next phase of its protest at its AGM in May.