Road hauliers claim they are losing £80 per day as a result of traffic gridlock in Dublin. The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) says several haulage firms have gone out of business solely on the basis of lost time due to traffic gridlock in the city.

The association says the traffic congestion and the poor state of Dublin Port is making it increasingly difficult for hauliers to make a "decent living" and a national day of action may soon be organised to draw attention to both issues. The national day of action would be capable of paralysing many of the States largest cities and towns.

Speaking at the association's annual general meeting in Galway yesterday, the president, Mr John Guilfoyle, said hauliers are pessimistic about the traffic congestion problem being tackled in the short or medium term. "Even if the Government finally sanctions the building of the port tunnel, it will take years before it is actually built," he said.

He added that changes in the opening times of Dublin Port would have some benefits. "If Dublin Port was opened at six o'clock, hauliers could offload their goods much earlier and this will keep them out of the traffic, but the current situation where it opens between eight and nine o'clock is madness," he said.

Mr Guilfoyle updated members on the association's claim against the French Government for money lost during the last French truckers dispute.

He said the French government owes Irish hauliers £1.2 million, but has "put up endless obstacles to us getting that money". He described a recent offer to 11 Irish hauliers of £200 for every day they were confined in France, as "not acceptable".

Mr Guilfoyle has also said that commercial vehicles, like trucks, should be exempted from paying tolls. "Tolls cost hauliers a lot of money during their daily business and, unlike other motorists, a haulier is often paying tolls seven or eight times a day," he said.