Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The last issue is separate to what we are discussing but I will comment on it in due course. First, I am more than familiar with the challenges that many hauliers face and I have spoken to people in many haulage companies in the past number of weeks. Some are adapting to the new realities reasonably well and others are not. It is important to say that the numbers are increasing and have done so significantly in the past few days. We are at a point now where 80% of hauliers are being green-laned or green-lighted. When those vehicles come off the ship, their drivers are free to go. That figure was 70% a few days ago. It is getting better all the time despite the increase in traffic volumes.

However, let nobody pretend otherwise than that the paperwork, preparation and notice period are very different from what was required in December and before that. These are the new realities of trading with the UK. We have to be honest with people that these new realities are not simply going to disappear through the use of slick software systems. We can, of course, improve the management processes in our ports to ensure that traffic moves as smoothly as it possibly can under the new arrangements. Revenue has already shown some flexibility in regard to safety certificates. This is about training, educating, informing and helping people to deal with the new realities as best we can.

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