Memorandum submitted by J Robinson &
Sons Limited (Quarry Owners)
Our Industry and business is facing its greatest
single threat since its formation in1968. As predicted with the
introduction of Aggregates Tax we have seen in the border regions
an influx of materials from Republic of Ireland and the opening
of a massive black market supplying quarry materials in other
regions. These markets are being fuelled daily by a public hungry
for low cost and economic products and is growing in strength
weekly as news spreads of alternative sources of materials, rather
than through bona fide operators who can offer only expensive
tax laden products.
Northern Ireland is a very rural economy with
each town and hamlet now having their own black market offering
non-tax products.
The Aggregates levy was "sold" by
the government as an Environmental Tax designed to regulate and
consolidate the quarry industry thereby reducing environmental
damage. The reverse of this is now evident as the black market
is being serviced by new and ever-increasing unregulated extraction
points opening province-wide.
Our business has grown and worked with all the
government bodies over the years in meeting the needs of Health
and Safety Executive, Environment and Heritage Service on Industrial
Pollution Control, Planning Service, Water Quality Consents. We
make provision for all training requirements for our personnel
and accommodate almost weekly updates in employment legislation.
Our company has invested huge sums of money over the years to
ensure we use the most up-to-date equipment, low emission road
trucks and fuel efficient quarry plant. To maintain our own competitiveness
and "green values", we have become a more efficient
environmentally friendly company, better for the environment,
better for our personnel and better for the community.
The meeting of all these requirements comes
at considerable cost for which we make provision and budget for
annually.
Now with the addition of Aggregates Tax and
compliance to all other government policies we have created a
huge cost umbrella under which unregulated, untaxed sources of
aggregates can operate effectively without added costs of taxation.
The aggregate tax alone has increased the price
of quarry products by at least 40% and has been the impetus for
rogue traders, now trading on the value of the tax.
We implore the government to review its policy
on the Aggregates Tax as we see its continuation being certain
to destroy our business and decimate the quarry industry in Northern
Ireland.
20 May 2003
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