Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The UK formally left the EU on 31 January 2020. The protocol around the Good Friday Agreement has always to be upheld. There are 21 Parts to this Bill. I will focus on customs aspects and how Brexit will impact on the transport industry for all our exports to Europe and the speed with which we can get products to market.

I am bothered by the number of reports produced for Brexit. This is one of many. I am also concerned about the statements that since 2018, 600 staff have been working in customs-based roles to get experience. A report states that the infrastructure at Dublin Airport requires an environmental assessment report and An Bord Pleanála approval. The process is under way. Does this sound as if anything will be ready for Brexit on 1 January? Permanent facilities will need to be developed within the port complex at Rosslare. Does that suggest anything will be ready for 1 January?

I have spoken to Mr. Eugene Drennan, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association. He said that it is very simple and that there needs to be a daily direct ferry to the north of France that is time efficient. It must be a quality boat with a minimum speed of 23 knots per hour and there must be adequate single occupancy for the drivers. It is all about speed to market. We need to be in western Europe in 18 hours which means that we are at the European markets at 5 a.m. Irish produce could then be in eastern European areas the following morning. This is a win-win scenario all round.

Roll-on, roll-off services give direct certainty of service to our customers and certainty of delivery without Irish companies having to arrange to go through the UK. This would mean that we could avoid all the long queues that will apply if we go through the entry lanes to Europe from the UK. Ireland can be the main exit port to Europe for Irish companies. Our reputation will grow on the basis of predictability. Ireland's current capacity is 46,000 units per week according to a report of the Irish Maritime Development Office, IMDO. The requirement, according to the IMDO, should be 90,000 units leaving the country with 60,000 units coming back in. Those numbers do not count the added vehicles that may come from Northern Ireland to use this service to their advantage by going directly from Rosslare.

We have a gap for roll-on, roll-off services to move fresh and frozen produce into European markets which is not being met. With a sailing three days a week, the capacity is 46,000 units per week. They will be unable to meet demand. There is a promise of a daily sailing from January but if it is not efficient and reliable, we are at nothing. Let us say we have an outbreak of Covid-19 on a ferry that is then required to sit in the Irish Channel for 14 days. Has the Minister allowed for that? Where is the contingency plan for that?

If the Minister wants to know what is best practice in our ports and how to make it happen, he should ask the people who use it daily for their livelihoods, in other words, the road hauliers. They will give the Minister the answers because their livelihoods depend on it. I ask him to listen to the people whose livelihoods depend on this.

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