Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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7. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the fact an increasing number of haulage operators are reregistering their vehicles in other jurisdictions due to the significant costs associated with the haulage industry here, such as the commercial vehicle road tax and commercial vehicle testing; his views on the United Kingdom’s restrictive interpretation of the revised cabotage rules which is making it extremely difficult for Irish operators, in addition to the pending introduction of the lorry road user charge in the UK and Northern Ireland; his plans to address these challenges facing the industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15132/14]

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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9. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on the discussions with his British counterpart regarding the introduction of a heavy goods vehicle road user levy in the United Kingdom which will have a significant impact on Irish hauliers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15133/14]

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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56. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on his work with the British Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to avoid potential damage to the haulage industry here posed by the heavy goods vehicle levy proposed by the British Government. [15147/14]

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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257. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will investigate if it would be allowable under European Union regulations to have a common road charging regime between Ireland and the United Kingdom whereby only one charge would be levied for access to the road network in both jurisdictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15620/14]

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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More than 11,000 international trucks operate in Ireland but more than 1,000 have left the jurisdiction and reregistered elsewhere because they do not feel there is a level playing field here. I am sure the Minister is well aware of the issues and I have raised a few of them in the question. Does the Minister have any plans to deal with the matter?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 9, 56 and 257 together.

I had the privilege of speaking at the Irish Road Hauliers Association annual conference in Kilkenny on Saturday, the third time I have done so since I was appointed Minister. I have consistently sought to work with the industry to ensure it is fit for purpose. My goal is to have a haulage industry that operates efficiently, safely and profitably and I believe that during my tenure to date we have made real progress in this regard.

I appreciate the UK HGV road user levy is of concern, in particular for hauliers operating to and from Donegal. I have had extensive discussions with my UK and Northern Ireland counterparts on the matter and have made representations to the UK authorities to exempt certain significant sections of Northern Ireland's road infrastructure from the levy. Departmental officials and I are committed to pursuing this issue to the fullest possible extent. In this regard I acknowledge the co-operative role that Mark Durcan, the Northern Ireland Minister for the Environment, has taken on this matter.

The Taoiseach raised this issue at his recent meeting with UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, and I understand that yesterday Deputy McHugh met the Northern Ireland Secretary, Theresa Villiers, on this issue also. My colleague Jim Higgins, MEP, Ireland's representative on the European Parliament Transport and Tourism Committee, has written to the Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas, and the Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services, Michel Barnier, on the issue and will shortly meet the chairman of the European Parliament Transport and Tourism Committee to discuss the matter.

I encourage Sinn Féin Deputies to ensure their party colleagues use their good offices in Northern Ireland and in the House of Commons to encourage the British Government to accede to our position on this matter.

With regard to Deputy McHugh's suggestion, a HGV road user charge group was set up across Departments and is due to report by the middle of this year. The group will explore all options, including the feasibility of joining existing regimes such as Eurovignette and the new UK HGV user levy.

Deputy Wallace refers to commercial vehicle roadworthiness, CVR, testing and cabotage. The Road Safety Authority has undertaken a comprehensive programme of reform of CVR testing. Conformity with vehicle standards is fundamental to our safety agenda. The previous system was introduced 30 years ago and is no longer fit for purpose. Specific concerns were raised by the industry about the testing of trailers under the new regime. I am pleased to report that my officials, the RSA and the Irish Road Haulage Association met to discuss these concerns and they have been satisfactorily dealt with.

I have had consultations with my UK counterpart to discuss cabotage carried out by Irish hauliers in the UK. Ultimately, the issue is that the British Government is taking a very strict interpretation of EU cabotage rules and that is impacting greatly on the ability of Irish hauliers to operate in the UK. The current cabotage regulations are too restrictive, inappropriate, anti-competitive and represent undue interference in the free market. However, while the current regulations are in place, the British Government’s enforcement actions, while unwelcome, are legal.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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There are a number of issues. The UK interpretation of the movement of unaccompanied trailers seems unfair. It is surprising, given the close relationships between Ireland and England, that we cannot come to a better understanding. Nolan Transport, one of the biggest companies in the country, lost two trucks recently. The company is out of pocket to the tune of €300,000 from this issue but claims it was working under Irish guidelines set by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport when the trucks were seized. There is little doubt the Irish hauliers have been looking at the difference it costs to run a truck in Ireland and in the UK on an annual basis, a difference that amounts to €31,000. It beggars belief.

Will the Minister consider balancing the lorry road user levy that has been introduced by taxing the lorries coming south from the North and compensating the lorries going north from the South? This will achieve some fairness.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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That suggestion certainly violates the Single European Act so I cannot consider something that is unlawful. Cabotage is wrong. We are supposed to have a free market and the free movement of goods and services across the European Union. If it were up to me, I would get rid of cabotage rules altogether. The European Commission is also in favour of doing that provided we have similar safety and social standards across the European Union. It should and could be done but, unfortunately, some of large member states take a protectionist view of this and do not want other countries' hauliers operating in their domestic markets. One difficulty in finding a solution is that it is not possible to have a special arrangement between Ireland and the UK. That would run against European treaties. There can be special arrangements between two or three countries, like Benelux, but only if they predate European treaties. Any concession the UK authorities grant to Ireland, or vice versa, must be granted to every country in the EU, including Romania and Portugal.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Joint Committee on Transport and Communications meets after this session and the Irish Road Haulage Association will appear before it. Much of what has been discussed will be dealt with at the meeting, which will afford the group an opportunity to outline its position. One of the reasons I tabled Question No. 9 was the user levy being introduced by the UK and its impact in the North. The last time we spoke in the House on the matter, the Minister was to meet his counterpart in London on 20 February to discuss the matter. Can the Minister explain the outcome of that meeting?

The A3 and the A37 are already excluded and one of the biggest issues is whether we can get confirmation that the A5, connecting Donegal and Derry to Dublin, is also to be excluded. Others have clearly indicated the impact this is having on the haulage sector, but a number of haulage companies along the Border are considering relocating and registering their businesses in Northern Ireland. That will have an impact on the tax take and requires a more proactive approach from the Government in trying to find a resolution. There was an expectation or an understanding that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, would examine the whole road tax issue to level the playing pitch between North and South. Can the Minister update us on these points?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I met my UK counterpart, Mr. Hammond, and his officials. They heard me out but made no promises other than to examine the matter further. The Taoiseach's meeting with the Prime Minister was along similar lines. I made the point that we had put money into the A5 already and had committed money for the future. For every argument we have, the UK has a counter-argument and pointed out that our motorways were built with EU Structural Funds, much of which came from British taxpayers. They also pointed out that we impose tolls on HGVs whereas they have no tolls in Northern Ireland and very few in Britain. The solution may exist in the survey suggested by Deputy Dooley, which involves us introducing a user levy and reducing motor tax substantially to compensate for that. That is why a working group, including my Department and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, is examining it and will make recommendations by the summer with a view to doing something in the budget and the Finance Bill at the end of the year.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Sinn Féin has made submissions on this and has been in regular contact with the Northern Ireland Executive and Westminster. Power is in Westminster. Does the Minister think there is a danger that vehicles will be registered for VRT and the NCT in the North? Does the Minister believe the only answer to this is exemptions on roads? We have heard certain roads would be exempt. Is that the only answer? These will be manual checks, followed by cameras using plate recognition software.

We had an argument about penalty points and the legislation required to have these effected, North and South. Does this pose a problem? People will be crossing over and fines of €300 or €1,000 will be imposed. This poses a similar problem to penalty points. We need to know this. The hauliers are saying the extra cost will amount to €1,000 in some cases. There must be an answer. I agree with the Minister that cabotage is the angle to look at.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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There is a risk that some haulage firms will register some of their trucks in the North and it may be the case that some have done so already. Others will buy the annual pass. People do not have to pay €10 every day they use UK roads. There is an option of purchasing a heavily discounted annual pass. Some people will do that, depending on how often they cross the Border and go through the UK. We must move towards introducing a similar system to level the playing field. The system in the UK is an old one and is out of date, based on a charge per day, whereas other countries have done so on the basis of distance, using GPS.

The idea is that people pay for the roads they use and with GPS it would be possible to charge more appropriately for the use of the roads. That may be the road we go down.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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In the short time available I will try to be as specific and constructive as possible. I acknowledge the Minister's role - I believe he made first contact on the issue approximately 18 months ago. Speaking off the record, people within the authorities in the United Kingdom have said this is a sin of omission. However, acknowledging this off the record is not good enough and still does not help us to get over the problem. The parameters of the Good Friday Agreement go beyond North-South aspects and also encompass east-west aspects. The British Government in Westminster, as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, has a responsibility here in acknowledging that it has not taken in the wider impact and effects of this law which came into force yesterday morning.

There is still time to be creative on this issue. The secondary legislation has not been passed in Northern Ireland yet. I agree with the Minister that there is a role for the Northern Ireland Executive with regard to this matter. There is a very good work on the part of the Northern Ireland Minister, Mr. Mark H. Durkan, MLA, and his officials in collaboration with the Department here. There is still an opportunity to be creative in some way. One road between Cavan and Monaghan has been granted a derogation. There has been considerable talk about getting a derogation just for the A5. Officials I have spoken to have said it would be hard to monitor and hard for the PSNI to enforce.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Deputy.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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As of yesterday, this is in law and we need to use the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly as a mechanism for considering a more constructive approach rather than the British introducing levies in Westminster and then us reporting in June or July about a possible levy where we will be charging Northern trucks coming down the M1 and they will be charging us going up the A5. It is outside the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and we have joint responsibility at a sovereign level-----

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Deputy.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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-----involving both Dublin and Westminster. Ultimately, it was Westminster that introduced this legislation.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are way over time.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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The Northern Ireland Executive is the Legislature that will introduce the secondary legislation.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I want to be able to get to other Deputies who want to ask other questions.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McHugh for his interest in the matter. I have had several meetings with him involving some hauliers from County Donegal. I welcome him taking the initiative to meet the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Ms Theresa Villiers, MP, about the matter. We will not give up on it and will continue to work on it. As he pointed out, the legislative instrument required to enforce it has yet to be passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly so while it is law, it appears to me that it is not enforceable at this point in time. It may give us a little bit of time to come up with a solution. However, his point is well made that we should try to co-ordinate these matters better at inter-ministerial level and also through the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. It is worth bearing in mind that it is no longer possible to have special arrangements between the UK and Ireland unless they pre-exist the signing of the European treaties so anything that is done will have to agree with European law.