Mr. Richard Nolan:

I shall expand on two points, the UK regulator's interpretation of both unaccompanied Republic of Ireland trailers to Great Britain in the main, and daily Republic of Ireland traffic in and out of Northern Ireland.

The Single European Act came into force in 1992 which meant free movement of goods and services. That provision led to the growth of a very efficient industry and one that delivered goods in the most efficient way possible. In terms of crossing the Irish Sea, it meant that trucks dropped trailers onto ferries, the ferries moved overnight at an off-peak time and other drivers picked up the trailer on the UK side and delivered the goods while Irish trucks rested. All the new law has done is add costs and now invariably the tractor unit must be attached to the trailer to do the very same journey and carry the very same goods which are international all of the way, just as they were before. Let me give an analogy. If we crossed a bridge, no one would argue about the matter because it would be deemed as international. However, when it involves a ferry crossing and the goods trailers are unhooked, because that is an efficient way to do business, it is viewed as wrong. The new provision does not serve health and safety regulations, the environment or efficiency. It simply causes unnecessary angst, bureaucracy and cost.

The second point that I shall expand on is the UK's enforcement of a tax on Irish trucks in Northern Ireland and Great Britain from yesterday. The second point, even more so than my first one, is the point that will drive trucks to the other state. For instance, depending on how one buys the tax it ranges between £10 to £20 per day. If one forgets to purchase that tax on the day in question, one will be fined £300. The reality is that one is better to pay the tax for the full year or re-register the truck in that state, thus incurring no tax and no problems. The provision is unnecessary but that is the way that the UK has dealt with the matter.

The IRHA can suggest three obvious possibilities to fix the problem. First, we can use the Ireland Act 1949 which is a British Act of Parliament that states that Irish people will not be treated as a foreign country for the purposes of a British law. That is a British Act of Parliament and has nothing to do with us. Second, we could have a focused unilateral agreement instead of a bilateral agreement which would isolate the area of Northern Ireland as well as the ro-ro ports of Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. Third, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport put forward a solution and called it a functional area for the peoples of these islands. He made the suggestion in his speech at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Seanad Éireann on 14 May 2012. His suggestion is the best of the three options but any one of them will work to resolve the issue we face today regarding these two points. That is enough on that matter.