Ms Celine O'Neill:

I thank the Deputy for the question about safety and security. As he said, it is a requirement for third countries and specifically relates to concerns about preventing international criminal organisations, weapons of mass destruction and such issues. Unfortunately, the UK did not want to be part of the EU's safety and security zone, so there is no possibility of not requiring that declaration. The legal responsibility for the submission of that declaration rests with what is known as the "carrier". As the Deputy pointed out, with an airline, the airline would be the carrier, but it is not as straightforward with a roll-on, roll-off vessel. When a vehicle is accompanied by a driver, the mode of transport is legally considered to be that vehicle and, therefore, the carrier is the haulier or the haulage company. For unaccompanied trailers, the legal responsibility rests with the ferry operator. Any carrier that has the legal responsibility to provide that declaration can pass that responsibility on to another person in the supply chain. Where the ferry operators have done that, it is because they were legally entitled to do so but it would not alleviate the requirement for the haulage sector to provide declarations about accompanied vehicles. That should clarify who has those responsibilities and how they can be fulfilled.