Enforcement of the HGV Road User Levy in Northern Ireland is to begin on Monday (17 November), the Department of the Environment (DoE) has confirmed, six-months after enforcement in the rest of the UK began.

Earlier this month the Northern Ireland Assembly voted against a motion opposing the introduction of the levy in the country, putting legislation in place to allow enforcement to begin.

FTA policy and membership relations manager for Northern Ireland, Seamus Leheny, told Motortransport.co.uk that while “a lot of the good, responsible operators” have been paying the levy since it came into force in April, a number of fixed penalty notices for non-compliant operators are expected after 17 November.

“Any operators from the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have been committing an offence if they use Northern Ireland’s roads without paying the levy,” said Leheny. “With the powers of enforcement now in place, we hope all operators are paying it.”

RHA director of policy Jack Semple said: “We commend the minister’s [Robert Goodwill] success in getting the levy implemented throughout the UK. It is entirely appropriate to have it enforced.”

A DoE spokesman said: "The Department for Transport in London, which has overall responsibility for the levy, has carried out a communications programme with the Irish haulage industry, and will be issuing a further communication ahead of next week.”

Topics