Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to the Irish Road Haulage Association because I came back late after a vote in the Dáil and missed their presentation but I assure the witnesses that I have their concerns on file and will be working with my colleagues and the Minister to try to address them.

I thank the Freight Transport Association for its presentation today and for highlighting the concerns within the industry. The committee is acutely aware of them and has discussed them over the past weeks and months. The major concern is the international or cross-border issue. It is extremely difficult for us as Irish parliamentarians to find a way to resolve this. That is why I asked if the association had made representations at committee level to the relevant transport committees in the Northern Ireland Assembly and to the British Parliament. That would have been the appropriate place to go, before the new legislation came into force in Northern Ireland and the UK. I find it extremely strange that the association has not acted on behalf of its members at that level prior to the regulation’s being implemented because the horse has bolted. We are trying to defend a rear-guard action and do what we as Irish parliamentarians can to address it. The association is sending out conflicting messages. That is my honest appraisal. It is trying to represent members on one side of the Border who are being treated in a different way from those on the other side. I find it hard to accept that conflict. The association cannot have it every way.

I am concerned about the operators based in the Irish Republic who are members of the FTA and of the IRHA and how to assist them. Whatever strategic approach the FTA takes to representing them must align with what we and others are trying to do. I am not telling the witnesses how to do their business but I sense conflict there and it does not sit well with me.

We need to try to achieve an all-Ireland approach that will level the playing pitch. How to achieve it is the problem. We have to acknowledge that the Minister and the Department officials are working at diplomatic level with their UK counterparts to try to find common ground. I am open to advice. In fairness to the IRHA, it mentioned three solutions, the Ireland Act 1949, a unilateral agreement and a functional area, as proposed by the Minister. The functional area proposal would be the best solution for an all-Ireland approach. What is the FRA’s view of that?

Does the association have support or otherwise for that type of approach? On the matter of overheads, the cost of doing business in Ireland and the threats of displacement to other countries, it should be acknowledged - I note that the Irish Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association have acknowledged the support of the Irish Government by means of the essential user fuel rebate - that a genuine effort is being made by the Government to assist the industry. I recognise the association's concerns about road tax but, speaking as a public representative, I am aware that we need to be responsible. To be fair, we have a smaller critical mass of road users in the Republic than in the UK, so it is quite easy for them to have a lower road tax rate than it is for us. This is a difficulty we will have to overcome. I agree with the principle that those who use the roads the most should pay the most. That is only fair, in my view. However, the challenge is how to reduce the rate and to find the funding. I am a Government Deputy and if I want to support a budget and also see a reduction in the rate of road tax then I have to be able to show where the money will come from to make that saving. I hope the association will understand my position. I will support a reduction in road tax in any way possible.
I share the concerns with regard to tachographs. I am not fully au faitwith the issue and I ask Mr. McDonnell to explain the Labour Court ruling or why it refused to take account of tachographs. This is a matter that the committee should revisit and possibly explore further because if it is accepted as the Road Safety Authority measurement for working hours it is a cause for concern if another State agency does not accept it. To be fair to all parties, we need a bit of consistency. It is a problem the committee needs to deal with.