Ms Verona Murphy:

The answer is "No". If that insurance company is registered here, one can insure an Irish plate. If the company has a brokerage here, essentially, as well as in the UK, then one can insure an Irish plate in the UK but if the company is not registered here, one cannot. I am one of those hauliers. I am a continental haulier. I spend 90% of my time outside the country and I have not got an answer as to how my risk is being assessed. I should be able to insure my truck anywhere in Europe.

Seemingly, we want to take the insurance as a single European market but, unfortunately, Irish operators are moving the whole operation and each truck is a loss to the Exchequer. Each vehicle of €250,000 is a loss to the Exchequer because there is no turnover, no PAYE, no road tax, no insurance, and no employees wages. The estimate is €250,000 per truck, and they are leaving in their droves. We estimate that 43% of Irish-owned trucks are being operated on foreign registered plates.