Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport
Impact of Brexit on Haulage, Freight, the Ports and Ferry Companies: Discussion
Mr. Eugene Drennan:
There are also two out of Liverpool, P&O and Seatruck. They have not been mentioned here but they also come in at the same time as the Holyhead ferries come in. Maybe there could be a little staggering there. The four come in within three quarters of an hour. They are pouring out 600 trucks at one end at the same as the trucks to reload are entering at the other end, plus the container lines which are to the right of the ferries. The containers will have a separate entry now but at the same time, the movement is circular. If any of those containers is called to customs checks, they are all within the main ports. The customs checks are on the right, as you come up from the port. You have to cross the road for the most part. You have to come up to the roundabout above it and join the inward flow. Then when they are done, they join the outward flow. Once you start that circular movement, as any committee member will know from any town or village that puts in a one-way system, although it may free up the flow of traffic, it also builds up a backlog of traffic. The easiest way to release anything is straightforward. If it jams up, the plan should be to release the outer traffic. You have to release that.
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