Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 9 December 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications

Forthcoming Transport Council Meeting: Discussion with Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport

9:30 am

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his questions. He has put four different points to me. I will start by responding to what he said about the issues that have arisen with tachographs as a consequence of what happened in Calais and Dover recently. He is correct in his identification of the issue that was occurring at that time. Representatives of the road haulage industry raised this matter with us strongly in different forums. As the Senator has said, drivers of haulage vehicles were exceeding their legally permissible driving hours as a result of having to deal with the humanitarian issues that were happening at both ports. A measure known as Article 14.2 was triggered for a specific period of time in recognition of the exceptional circumstances that were leading to these hours being exceeded. It was triggered by the UK because the consequences of this activity were being felt within its jurisdiction. This is a delicate matter that needs to be managed. If a driver exceeds the maximum number of hours, that can contribute to fatigue and lead to road safety issues. The Article 14.2 measure was triggered for a very specific period of time for very specific reasons. The period of time for which it was triggered has now lapsed. As I mentioned in my opening contribution, we are now engaging directly with the relevant UK authorities. We are asking them to share with us the details of any case in which an Irish haulage company ends up being involved in a matter like this. We are working with the UK enforcement bodies to ask for the exceptional nature of what is happening there to be recognised. This is having a significant effect on the Irish haulage industry because so much of our access to the single European market takes place through the UK.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.