The owners of quarries in the county fear they are worst at risk from the Government’s proposed new tax which is due to be introduced on April 1, 2002, because they are close to the border with the Republic. Many of them have major customers in the Republic but the addition of £1.60 per tonne in tax would make them totally uncompetitive and encourage firms to come in from the Republic.

    Most of the quarry owners are members of the Quarry Products Association which has taken up their cause and is building up a case to convince the Treasury in London that their proposed tax is unworkable in Northern Ireland. To-day(Thursday), the QPA will be meeting the South Down M.P., Mr. Eddie McGrady, and over the next few weeks, meeting with the Finance Minister, Mr. Mark Durban and Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister, Sir Reg Empey. They already have the support of MLAs including Fermanagh and South Tyrone’s Mr. Tommy Gallagher, who is to meet Mr Brian Cowan, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Republic’s government so that it can be raised at Anglo-Irish level.

    The quarry owners are also to meet officials from the Customs and Excise shortly, to explain the problems they would face in collecting the tax. The quarry owners say that business making products from aggregates, could relocate in the Republic to escape paying the tax and “export” the products back into Northern Ireland and a tax in border region would also encourage a “black economy.”

    “We believe where there’s a will, there’s a way,” said the local owners. There have been fears about the implications of the Aggregates Tax since it was first proposed by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown in the March 2000 Budget statement.. He described it as a “green” tax to tackle the environment costs of quarrying and encourage the use of recycled materials. He has proposed a tax of £1.60 per tonne plus VAT on a weight basis of all sand, gravel and crushed rock extracted in the United Kingdom as well as all aggregates incorporated in downstream products like asphalt, bricks and blocks, concrete, precast, piles and tiles. The tax will not apply to exported virgin aggregates or to imported products.

    However local representatives on the Quarry Products Association say that the proposed tax could put many jobs at risk in the county, at a time when the county has suffered badly from factory closures in the textile industry and when agriculture has been struggling.

    Mr. Matthew Murphy, of James Balfour and Sons Ltd., who along with other representatives has been lobbying on behalf of the QPA, said they were seeking exemption from the tax for Northern Ireland and is convinced after meeting the former Minister at the Treasury, Mr. Stephen Timms, that the Government in London had probably recognised this and were looking for an escape clause for Northern Ireland.

    “They are looking at a possible solution and if we can map out a path for them it would be difficult for them to refuse,” said Mr. Murphy. However the Ministerial positions in London have changed now with Mr. Paul Boateng in charge of this department.

    They were accompanied on that meeting in London by MEP, Mr. John Hume. Mr. Murphy said he and his colleagues within the QPA feel they have an obligation to come up with an alternative solution and justify their position.

    “All we are asking for is a level playing field to do business This will leave us uncompetitive, “ explained Mr. Murphy.

    Mr. Gordon Best, regional development manager with the QPA, who was in Fermanagh on Monday meeting with local representatives, said that plants producing ready mixed concrete, already operated on a slim profit margin and the proposed tax would wipe out any margin altogether.

    He and his colleagues say the most ridiculous part of the proposed tax regime was that it would discourage quarrying. Instead, it would drive local business to transfer their operations across the border to the Republic. He says in parts of Great Britain, quarry firms have much further to travel with their raw materials and as a result are much more expensive.

    In a recent document produced by the QPA, the price of raw materials are much different between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain. In Northern Ireland, ex works price is quoted at an average of £2.60 per tonne but would have to be increased by 60 per cent to cover the proposed taxation of £1.60 per tonne. In mainland Britain, the increase would be just 25 per cent, as the average selling price was around £6.50 per tonne.

    The local quarry owners say there has not been a problem with regards to environmental impact of quarrying locally and that recycling is not applicable here. Quarrying and tourism have always co-existed in Fermanagh, they say.

    Another fear for the local employers is the impact such a tax would have on health and safety.

    “If this tax comes in it will force people to cut costs,” said Mr. Best.

    Mr. Patsy Tracey of Tracey Concrete in Enniskillen, said they had considered the possibility of resiting in the Republic when they were refurbishing their Old Rossorry Road plant last year but had decided to stay loyal to Fermanagh. He says they have a number of lorries in their fleet due for replacement but could not consider it at this time of uncertainty.

    Mr. Paddy Clarke of P. Clarke and Sons Ltd., said 85 per cent of their business was in the Republic and with such a heavy reliance on such orders, this would become more uncompetitive with the imposition of a tax.

    Other owners agreed including Mr. Noel Mitten of R.J. Mitten and Sons. Other quarries supporting the opposition to the tax include Acheson and Glover quarries at Fivemiletown and Belcoo; the Sean Quinn Group at Derrylin and Tarmac Quarry Products at Carn, near Ederney.

    The QPA maintains that the Republic would have four distinct advantages over Northern Ireland producers, from their ex works price, the effects of the strength of sterling lower fuel costs and lower corporation tax.

    “The conclusion on this particular issue is that the export trade of all products will cease entirely, imports of downstream products will increase sustantially, margins will be non existent, the industry within the 25 miles of the border will collapse and even the small ‘protected’ area of Antrim will become intensely competitive, to the extent that the entire Northern Ireland industry may collapse or be vulnerable to acquisition. Indeed, the entire industry in Northern Ireland will collapse, should this tax go ahead and further increases be imposed in future years,” they say.