Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Crowe posed a huge number of questions and, in view of the time constraints, I will not be able to answer all of them. He asked about the number of trucks currently operational in the haulage fleet. I draw his attention to the surveys carried out by the Dublin Port Company and the National Institute of Transport Logistics, one of which relates to the period from October 2002 to July 2003 and the other to May 2003. I concur with his view that there have been major developments in the area of transport. Supercubes are relatively new and we do not have statistics available as regards the actual number in the fleet.

We can address the issue of supercubes. On how we would go about doing so, all stakeholders would be asked to place their chips on the table to see if consensus can be reached as regards the best height. In that context, matters such as road and rail safety and the various issues relating to infrastructure to which I referred would have to be taken into account.

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