Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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217. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of Irish trucks that use Britain as a land bridge to export goods to mainland Europe each week; his contingency plans if this land bridge becomes unusable due to a hard Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27315/18]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I am acutely aware of the potential impact that a hard Brexit may have on the transport of goods to and from Ireland via the UK land bridge. Ireland is highly reliant on the use of the land bridge as a route for the transport of goods to and from European continental ports via ports in Great Britain.

The Irish Maritime Development Office is currently finalising a study into the use of the UK land bridge by Irish importers and exporters. The purpose of this research is to establish the volume of traffic using the UK land bridge at present, the likely consequences that Brexit will have on land bridge usage and the various alternative options that may be viable. This research is expected to be completed shortly and will be published. This will assist my Department, other key Departments, and the relevant agencies in their ongoing preparations for a disorderly Brexit scenario.

Irish ports operate as commercial companies and they are examining the implications of Brexit and preparing in order to ensure as far as possible the smooth transport of goods into and out of the State. Irish ports are also open to any opportunities that may arise from Brexit.

Shipping companies are market driven and are already making provision for larger vessels with extra capacity on direct routes to continental Europe. A new larger vessel, the MV Celine, was recently launched from Dublin Port and will serve routes to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge.  The MV WB Yeats, which will operate between Dublin and France, is due to be launched later in 2018 and a new ferry route to Santander in Spain commenced from the Port of Cork last month.