Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is almost one year since the UK voted on Brexit. Last year the principle of the EU negotiating directly was approved at the General Affairs Council. This clears the way on the EU side for the commencement of the negotiations. The next major milestone is the forthcoming UK general election, after which I understand Mr. Barnier and his team are seeking to commence the first round of talks during the week beginning 19 June.

In line with the agreed negotiation guidelines and mandate, the initial focus of the negotiations will be on the withdrawal agreement and after sufficient progress is achieved in this phase of the negotiations, it will be followed by negotiations on the future relationship.

Along with all other Departments, my Department has prepared for the commencement of the negotiations and has consulted widely in identifying the issues of importance to the transport and tourism sectors. My colleague, the Minister of State, has referred to tourism. With regard to transport, there is general consensus across all operators and users that any additional barriers, be they physical, regulatory or technical, to the current access arrangements between the UK and Ireland, including North and South, will be detrimental to them and to the overall economy. The key issues for the sector are the maintenance of the common travel area; the maintenance, as far as possible, of existing common standards and regulatory regimes; the avoidance of a hard border between North and South, and the most efficient customs arrangement on the island of Ireland and between Ireland and Great Britain; the protection of the fully liberalised and deregulated aviation market; ensuring current aviation traffic rights are not adversely affected by the UK exit with respect to their various air transport markets; and equal treatment of EU and UK airlines as well as UK and EU nationals in respect of ownership and control rules.

With respect to sector-specific concerns, the UK's exit from the EU and the single aviation market means that a new EU-UK aviation agreement between the remaining 27 member states and the UK will have to be negotiated. Brexit, unless accompanied by some form of agreement replacing the impacted traffic rights and associated regulations, will affect the existing rights of Irish licensed airlines to fly between the UK and the EU, within the UK, and between the UK and a range of other countries, including the US and Morocco. Specific political consent will be required for existing traffic rights to remain available and the desired end is for a comprehensive EU-UK agreement to be reached. Uncertainty regarding traffic rights is exacerbated by ownership rules affecting Irish airlines. To retain an EU airline licence and access to the EU single aviation market, an airline must be majority owned and effectively controlled by EU nationals. It is also essential that robust transitional arrangement bridging the gap between a withdrawal agreement and a future relationship agreement are put in place to provide clarity and certainty for the sector and to ensure continuity of services.

Any negative impact on bilateral trade flows will impact on ports and shipping. The UK has signalled it does not expect to be part of the EU customs union and, therefore, any additional levies or tariffs that may be introduced may divert goods to EU markets away from the UK and may depress Ireland's overall exports. Reintroduction of border controls for freight together with additional administrative requirements would have a significant negative impact on the cost and efficiency of the transit goods through ports and a significant impact on the capacity of ports as a result of the likely negative impact on land utilisation and other port infrastructure.

Irish haulage and passenger operators who hold a Community licence have access to the EU market, including the UK and Northern Ireland. It is unclear how Irish road transport operators will be able to access the UK and Northern Ireland post-Brexit. Issues will also arise regarding road transport regulatory requirements post-Brexit when the UK will no longer be governed by EU legislation in this area. A significant proportion of goods destined for EU markets use the UK land-bridge to access these markets. Brexit could impact on the efficiency of the land-bridge routes, particularly where there are increased border and customs procedures and delays or where the UK may subsequently apply different standards, road charging or regulatory regimes. Current alternatives to the UK land-bridge are regarded as slower and lacking capacity. My Department, in conjunction with the Irish Maritime Development Office, is planning to undertake a study shortly into the UK land-bridge to help inform our negotiating position. There is also considerable cross-Border traffic with hauliers operating on both sides of the Border. They currently may make multiple crossings in a day. Border controls could significantly disrupt these operations or render them unfeasible. Employment and cabotage will also emerge as road haulage issues. UK drivers will be considered to be non-EU and, therefore, work permits may be required, leading to potential driver shortages.

Irish bus and coach operators travelling to the UK or transiting through the UK to access continental Europe could be faced with increases in costs and restrictions on carrying out public transport cabotage operations in the UK. Picking up and setting down passengers as part of a cross-Border trip is particularly an issue for services to and from Northern Ireland.

As part of my Department's preparations for Brexit, there has been wide engagement with sectoral stakeholders and there are established stakeholder fora in the tourism, aviation, maritime, public transport and road haulage freight areas to consider the implications of Brexit for these sectors. Two major workshops have taken place. Along with the Minister of State, and as referred to by him, earlier this year I hosted an all-island dialogue on the impact of Brexit on the transport and logistics, and tourism and hospitality sectors and, in April, my Department hosted a workshop on the impact of Brexit on maritime transport regulation.

In addition to Irish stakeholder consultation, we are seeking to deepen and broaden our alliances with the EU institutions and individual member states and continue to work to ensure they are fully mindful of and aware of core Irish concerns on various issues in the transport sector. Such alliance building and positioning will require a concerted effort on our part seeking issue-specific coalitions often within individual sectors and policy areas. As set out in the EU guidelines for the negotiations, flexible and imaginative solutions will be required. Our absolute preference is to maintain the closest trading relationship based on a level playing field between the UK and EU, including Ireland. What happens with Brexit will influence the transport and tourism sectors for decades to come and there will be much to do over the coming period to achieve the outcomes we want.