Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. EU legislation sets out several requirements that must be satisfied in order to be eligible to hold a road transport operator licence, one of which is professional competence. In order to fulfil this requirement, every road transport undertaking in Ireland or, indeed, any other EU member state must have a nominated transport manager to effectively and continuously manage its transport activities. The transport manager must hold a certificate of professional competence in either road haulage or road passenger transport, depending on the nature of the operator's business. This certificate must be issued by an EU member state and is ordinarily obtained by passing a written examination. As highlighted by the European Commission in 2018 and, more recently, in July of this year, after the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December, transport managers' CPCs issued by an authority of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, or a body authorised by the United Kingdom will no longer be valid in the EU.

As part of the Government's Brexit preparations, the Department of Transport carried out a review and identified approximately 200 individuals with a UK-issued transport manager CPC who are currently nominated as transport manager for Irish road transport operators. The Department recently wrote to these transport managers and the relevant operators to ensure they are aware of the position as outlined by the European Commission.

There are steps that affected transport managers and operators can take to ensure they continue to be in compliance with the relevant EU legislation. Individuals who hold a UK-issued transport manager CPC and who wish to act, after the end of the Brexit transition period, as transport manager for a road transport operator based in the EU, including Ireland, will need to obtain a transport manager CPC issued by an EU member state. This affects UK-qualified transport managers working for Irish operators, but also those working for other operators based in other EU member states.

As outlined in the Department’s correspondence to those UK transport manager CPC holders who work as transport manager for Irish-based transport operators, the Department has communicated with the European Commission on this important issue. I am pleased to inform the House that the Commission yesterday evening indicated that before the end of the Brexit transition period we may issue a corresponding Irish transport manager CPC to those UK-qualified individuals working for Irish operators. This is extremely welcome news for those affected transport managers and operators as it means that the transport managers will not now be required to undertake an Irish exam in order to continue to work as transport manager for an Irish operator.

In light of this clarification received from the European Commission, my Department is now examining as a matter of urgency the arrangements that must be put in place in order to allow for the issuing of corresponding transport manager CPCs to affected individuals. A further communication will shortly be issued to affected transport managers and operators to inform them of this recent update from the European Commission and to outline what needs to be done in order to obtain an Irish transport manager CPC. We will advise impacted transport managers to apply before the end of the year to avail of these new arrangements, and will communicate this as soon as possible. It is important to note that those affected will not need to sit an exam to secure an Irish CPC.

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