Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 98: To ask the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the fact that foreign road hauliers are cherry picking the haulage market here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35058/10]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I am not aware of any specific complaints in this regard. If the Deputy has a particular case in mind, I will have it examined.

Road transport operates in a liberalised market where good carried for hire and reward are regulated by both EU and national legislation. Decisions on freight movement, including choice of hauliers, are influenced by many factors such as competition, patterns of freight lows between production units and retail outlets as well as supply chain and fleet management requirements.

Over the past decade, freight traffic volume in Ireland has increased substantially. More than 95% of internal goods are moved by road. While the global economic recession has hit hard, many Irish businesses have responded by reducing costs and increasing efficiencies.

To remain competitive today, businesses must strive for the greatest economies on inventory, minimise order lead-in times, provide timed delivery of goods and offer tracing and tracking services. Irish hauliers must work to support businesses through providing services tailored for maximum competitive impact.

Ireland has one of the most extensive short sea networks in Europe with multiple operators and alternative modes of shipping. The roll-on, roll-off and ferry services between Ireland and the United Kingdom are among the most frequent services in Europe.

The past decade has seen a 68% decrease in the amount of freight capacity services serving Ireland to UK and European markets. The development of our shipping network has provided the Irish market with more competition, choice and frequency in accessing global markets.

The recently established all-Ireland freight forum is working to address issues such as enhanced economic competitiveness, sustainability, international connectivity and other matters associated with the movement of goods.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. The statement was made by the president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Vincent Caulfield. Has the Minister any evidence of an increase in the presence of foreign road hauliers in this country? The Minister may be aware of the figures published by the Central Statistics Office which show a drop of 40% in the road haulage business over the past 12 months. The figures put forward by the Irish Road Haulage Association show that more than 200 haulage companies have gone out of business over the same time period. The haulage business is on the rocks and this reflects the state of the economy. Is there evidence of foreign hauliers working in this country? How does the Minister propose to improve the situation for road hauliers?

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Such information as to the number of foreign road hauliers is not collated by my Department. Therefore, I cannot honestly say to the Deputy that there are more or fewer foreign road hauliers coming into the country. The Deputy is correct that fewer hauliers are operating from Ireland and fewer hauliers have been licensed in Ireland over the past number of years. This is due to the current economic difficulties. As for trying to help Irish hauliers, the most efficient and effective action the Government can take to help the hauliers is to provide proper road infrastructure to ensure they can move goods around the country and to the ports as fast and as safely as possible. Our record in that regard has been exemplary. Other than such action, there is not much the Government can do to assist individual hauliers as this is an open, liberalised market and we would be in difficulties with competition authorities.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Is the Minister aware of the major financial pressure on Irish road hauliers? The Minister covered some of this in his response but a huge number of them have gone out of business over the past 12 months. Increasing costs are cited as the reason. The Minister intends to put tolls on many of our roads and this will add further cost to hauliers. These are Irish companies being driven out of business. There will be major job losses and the net effect will be more and more people unemployed. Does the Minister have any plans for those under financial pressure running haulage companies?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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That is expanding the question somewhat and I am not sure it is directed at the correct Minister.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I accept what the Deputy is saying, that hauliers like everyone else in the economy are under increasing pressure. We mentioned that the number of hauliers has reduced and the amount of goods being carried has reduced over the past 12 to 18 months. The dip in the economy has hit hauliers hard . From the Department's point of view, we cannot intervene directly to support individual hauliers. We try to create conditions to help them as much as possible. The only positive note is that the statistics on licences issued over the past number of years showed a major fall in 2009 to 663, a fall of nearly 300.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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There is a related question coming up and I am anxious to call on two further Deputies.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I wish to ask the Minister a specific question on the road haulage industry. My understanding is that road hauliers in Ireland can no longer receive TIR certification, which allows them to operate a haulage route from inside the EU to outside it. For example, if an Irish company wants to go to Istanbul in Turkey, it finds it very difficult and expensive to do so because of the lack of TIR certification.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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This is well beyond the scope of this question.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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We are discussing the haulage industry.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I will give some latitude but the Minister must have some notice of the question.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Until two years ago, we provided TIR certification through CIE but the service is no longer available. I ask the Minister to address that question. It is a relatively small issue but for a small number of companies it is very important.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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It is well beyond the scope of the question but perhaps the Minister can respond.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I take the point made by Deputy Coveney and I will respond directly to him. It is a problem.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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The Minister said he does not collate information on foreign hauliers in this country. Will the Minister begin the process of doing so? That would be useful. Will the Minister introduce a scrappage scheme for the older trucks lying idle so that we modernise the fleet? Will the Minister make some concession on the introduction of the working time directive in respect of hauliers?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The contribution contains many questions, some of which are definitely not the concern of the Minister for Transport, the operation of the working time directive being one.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I can respond briefly on the working time directive because it is subject to new rulings from the EU. It is currently under discussion. We have no proposals for a scrappage scheme. In the current economic climate we will not contemplate that. In the past we have tried to encourage the haulage industry to renew the fleet by increasing the standards and facilitating them in upgrading to the next standard of vehicle. Regarding the compilation of statistics, I will check for the Deputy to see if they are compiled. They may be compiled somewhere but I am not sure I see the merit in spending time and resources counting the number of lorries coming in and out of the country from foreign countries. I am not being facetious but it is an open and liberal market and our trucks can do business in other countries in Europe.