ITRWA – says impending PRI is bad deal

The Irish Tyre Wholesalers and Retailers Association (ITWRA) has issued a statement claiming that the impending full PRI scheme proposed by the Department of Environment and Community and Local government is a “bad deal” for the tyre industry.

In a statement issued to TyreTrade.ie this afternoon the ITWRA said:

The Department of the Environment is close to finalising a full PRI and every Retailer, Importer and waste collector now understands the impact that this will have on our Industry. It has been officially stated by the Minister that Repak and WEEE will operate the Full PRI. The cost to the public will treble and Repak will extract up to €80m over the next five years.

This is officially 2.80+ Vat per car tyre and it has not yet been decided for Truck and Agri. This equates to €3,444 per 1000 car tyres which is €2,500 more than most current charges. Repak will now control a monopoly and can set any charge in the future.

The ITWRA withdrew from the T.W.G. (Tyre Working Group) once Repak was appointed and a full PRI was on the table for discussion. We officially informed the DECLG that we would mount full opposition by way of Media, Political and even if we had to take a Legal Challenge, which we recently have commenced. This was stated clearly in front of all present at the T.W.G.

This is a bad deal for all and will create serious distortion in pricing, with all traders not playing fair. This deal will give a stronger incentive for the public to buy from foreign online sites. This deal will see new back street fitting services for online purchases with no responsibility for waste, which is already happening.
The ITWRA have initiated the first steps in receiving a legal opinion and we are now in the process of appointing a barrister. We have our media consultant on standby and will commence publications in the press and radio in the coming weeks.

The response from the industry and pledges of money to support this legal action has been astounding. Literally all dealers contacted, has committed to support this legal action with retailers subscribing between €500-1000 and importers €2,000 -5000. We have commitment of €5000 from a number of people also.
The ITWRA are confident with the support and it sends a strong statement to the Department and Minister of the resistance and lack of support that is there for a full PRI.

The statement above is submitted by the Irish Tyre Wholesalers & Retailers Association, and reflects their views and/or policies.