Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives of the Irish Road Haulage Association to the meeting. I welcome their frank and forthright comments particularly on the question of over-height vehicles. I represent a Dublin north city constituency. As the use of the port tunnel is restricted to only vehicles under 4.65 m high, vehicles over that height have to travel along Alfie Byrne Road, up the Malahide Road and along Collins Avenue and Griffith Avenue through high density residential areas. That has always been a source of annoyance and fear among the residents of that area. The ban which came into effect last Friday is welcomed by my constituents and I would be pleased if it were to remain in place and there was full compliance with it.

Reference was made to vehicles striking bridges. Some vehicles over the height limit of 4.65 m have struck bridges, particularly along the DART line which runs through my constituency. The DART service has been out of action during morning peak hours at times following a vehicle striking a bridge, and that was another argument for restricting the height of vehicles because of the danger posed. I accept Mr. Kiersey's point that these bridges were built during the Victorian era. Much of our infrastructure was also built around that time. There is a concern about the risk to public transport in Dublin if a vehicle damages a bridge and such damage also happens in other parts of the country. However, this city has a high density of population. Such risk is a concern and that is the reason over-height vehicles were a major concern.

Mr. Gavin mentioned the question of 20 ft. trucks with articulated trailers. Having cycled around this city for a long time, I am aware that the sight of such trucks instill fear in any cyclist. A 20 ft. truck passes out a cyclist and suddenly he or she sees the articulated trailer being pulled behind it. Quite a number of cyclists have been killed in those circumstances. That is the reason a ban on heavy goods vehicles, HGVs, was introduced in Dublin between the two canals, and the Garda enforce that ban. Anybody who wants to operate outside that ban must get a permit from Dublin City Council. The ban was introduced on the basis of safety concerns about cyclists, pedestrians and other road users. Statistics have shown that since it was introduced the number of fatal accidents in the city has dropped considerably. That is a credit to the road hauliers who have complied with the ban.

As Mr. Gavin said, this is all about road safety, greening our transport network while accepting that the haulage industry plays a vital road in the economy. As an island nation, our freight is not transported by rail, rather it is all transported by road. Unfortunately, the container terminal in Dublin Port was built on the south side of the port some years back. The rail head is on the north side of the port and somebody made the decision in respect of that. It removed the possibility of transporting many containers by rail because the container terminal was on the south side of the port. That meant that some trucks have to travel around the city and over the toll bridge and I believe they were exempt from having to pay the toll because of that.

Mr. Gavin raised some interesting questions about illegal haulage. It would be a matter of concern if some hauliers were operating illegally. Was Mr. Gavin referring to hauliers in Northern Ireland who transport goods form the North to Dublin Port? There is a good deal of cross-Border trade. He mentioned Foynes Port where it was said that some haulage operators were operating illegally.

I would like to know more about that because it would be of concern if the genuine compliant haulage operator were being undercut by someone operating illegally.