Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact the Tánaiste thinks there will be no empty shelf space. There is concern because when we had bad weather, trucks were not able to travel for a day or two and we did have empty shelves. I am anticipating that if the worst does happen, the calamity around the ports might impact on supply chains, even for a short period, although perhaps that will not happen.

I also want to share in thanking the French for being such good neighbours and a decent member state in helping us on that front. I certainly think it wise and prudent to pursue a similar arrangement with other ports on mainland Europe to facilitate Irish trucks. The Dover situation leaves us in a very precarious position. I imagine that not only will we not get the same treatment we are going to get in Calais, but the requirements on our paperwork will be quite stringent, and I have no doubt that Irish trucks will be turned away in that immediate period. That leaves us in a very tricky situation.

I want to reiterate the point that the small hauliers are just not ready. There is a significant body of work to be done. If they are not ready and they are caught with no paperwork and stopped at the ports, that will impact on every citizen in the country in ways we probably do not even know at this time. What those hauliers are saying is that because they are operating on such a tight margin, they are very concerned just to stay in business in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

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