Michael Collins TD: Fastway Closure: “More disasters to come if Government’s anti-business policies continue”

Michael Collins TD: “Fastway Closure: More disasters to come if Government’s anti-business policies continue”

Independent Ireland Leader Michael Collins TD has warned that the closure of courier depots and widespread job losses in the haulage and logistics sector are only the beginning of a much wider crisis, driven by what he called the Government’s “insane climate policies” and its failure to back industry, small business, and working people.

Deputy Collins was responding to reports that Fastway Couriers’ Cork depot is to close, with hauliers warning of chaos and a collapse in delivery networks if urgent support is not forthcoming.

“The Government has created a cost environment that is destroying small business,” Deputy Collins said. “Every new carbon tax, every green levy, every extra layer of regulation is pushing the cost of doing business through the roof. It’s ordinary workers, drivers, and family businesses who are paying the price for this madness.”

He said Ireland’s transport and logistics sector — already under severe pressure from fuel costs, insurance, and emissions targets — has been “abandoned by a government that is chasing climate headlines instead of protecting jobs”.

“We are now seeing the real-world consequences of climate policy that was never tested against economic reality,” Collins said.
“The closure of Fastway’s operations and the warning from hauliers are not isolated incidents — they are the canary in the coal mine. If this Government keeps going down this road, we will see more closures, more job losses, and more communities hollowed out.”

Deputy Collins said Independent Ireland has consistently called for a balanced and realistic approach to climate and energy policy, protecting both the environment and the livelihoods of ordinary people.

“Protecting the environment should never mean punishing workers or crippling small business,” he said. “The current approach is ideological, not practical — it’s putting Irish jobs, food production, transport, and even our energy security at risk.”

He said the Government’s approach to emissions targets, carbon taxes, and vehicle regulation has left hauliers, farmers, and small manufacturers with “no viable path forward”, 

Deputy Collins called on the Government to engage urgently with representatives of the haulage and logistics sector to develop a rescue plan for transport and small enterprise, warning that without intervention, “many more will go under before Christmas”.