Mr. Aidan Flynn:

I will probably cover a couple of these questions together. Senator Paul Daly asked about options or alternatives post Brexit and worst case scenarios. There are 1 million roll-off, roll-on units sent from Dublin Port to the UK over and back each year. There are 690,000 lift-on, lift-off units out of Dublin Port over and back to the UK each year. There are opportunities to move from roll-on, roll-off to lift-on, lift-off, which suit longer sea journeys. It is very much dependent on the products. If there was a five-hour delay at Dublin Port going out and there was another five-hour delay going through the land bridge at another port, that is a ten-hour delay in total for that product. It would still be a day ahead of the ferry from Dublin to Zeebrugge. It will not suit all types of product.

In terms of deep sea ports, there is absolutely a necessity to look, investigate and support all the main ports in Ireland. There is an opportunity to take a leaf out of the book of main European ports such as Rotterdam and strategically work together to put a plan in place for future development. Ringaskiddy is awaiting the arrival of a new deep sea cargo shipment soon. The deep sea requirements probably open up different types of markets we possibly have not thought about. There are definite opportunities. The road links, infrastructure and all that type of thing need to be worked on. The motorway network between Dublin and Cork really supports that type of stuff and it is really good to see. There is a limit in terms of how quickly that can change and happen. There has to be forward planning because 5% of goods exported are by air freight, which is 35% of the volume. It involves high volume goods and options. A new runway will definitely aid expansion plans with regard to that type of thing.

On the question of a hard border, I spoke about our accreditation programme in my introduction because we are really committed to trying to professionalise and upskill the logistics industry at all levels. There is a skills shortage. The average age of a truck driver is 54 years of age. There is a struggle to get young people engaged in the industry at all levels. This is the stuff we can do now and get supported by Government and the private sector because there is a willingness to do it. There are opportunities in the new apprenticeship programmes in terms of apprenticeship diplomas. An apprenticeship truck driver programme has been in the pipeline for a number of years and is nowhere to be seen.

These things need to be implemented now to help us be much more competitive in this post-Brexit era.

In respect of the issue of a hard Border, without doubt, technological solutions are the way forward. I am convinced there will not be a hard border because there cannot be a hard border. In Donegal and Sligo, in respect of the opportunities if there was one, it is much easier to focus on developing the road infrastructure from Killybegs through Sligo and linking it up with the motorway in Mullingar and so on, but that route in itself would add a couple of hours on to the journey for people. Even with technological smart solutions in customs and so on, goods vehicles will have to be checked. Having spoken to customs and having seen its presentation here, I do not know whether it will be 8% or 10% or whatever the volumes are, but what is key is customs taking a 24-7 approach. When we are looking at expansion within ports, the support and linkage, be it between An Garda Síochána, customs, port officials and everything else, should be all geared up to an efficient programme of delivery and support for the logistics sector. That links in with our call for a Brexit Minister or a future supply chain or logistics Minister. It is vitally important that even from the private sector perspective, it is one port of call.

There is very little engagement from the current Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. We would have a very good working relationship with officials in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and provide lots of information to them. Freight Transport Association Ireland has an office in Brussels and we have met the permanent residence in Brussels and Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport officials in respect of this; therefore, we are very open to working with different Departments. If one is looking to go to one Department after the next, the message will get lost. No trust is built up. While one is representing one's members or bringing members like the Kerry Group, Glanbia, DHL or the DAA to these meetings, are they impactful enough? There is a great opportunity for us to have a logistics chain that is respected worldwide through making those decisions now, which will be very positive. I think I have covered all the questions.