Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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190. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if there are plans for an exchange programme for holders of TM CPC UK certificates to EU or Irish certificates following Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40358/20]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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192. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if a full and final decision has been made on exchanging international haulage certificates following Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40362/20]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 190 and 192 together.

EU legislation sets out a number of requirements to be satisfied in order to hold a road transport operator licence, one of which is professional competence. To fulfil this requirement, every road transport undertaking in Ireland (or in 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 (CPC), 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 Manager CPCs issued by an authority of the United Kingdom or a body authorised by the United Kingdom will no longer be valid in the EU.

As part of the Government's Brexit preparations, my Department 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 that they are aware of the position as outlined by the European Commission.

My Department has liaised with the European Commission on this matter and has recently obtained clarification that corresponding Irish Transport Management CPCs may be issued to those UK-qualified individuals working for Irish operators and resident in Ireland, before the end of the Brexit transition period. This means that these Transport Managers will not now be required to undertake an Irish examination in order to continue to work as Transport Manager for an Irish or other EU operator.

In view of this clarification, my Department has established arrangements with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) for the application process to obtain a corresponding Irish Transport Management CPC. CILT is the body that issues Transport Management CPCs in Ireland on behalf of the Department. A further communication has now issued to affected Transport Managers to inform them of this recent update and to outline what needs to be done in order to obtain an Irish Transport Manager CPC.

It is important to note that applications must be submitted to CILT by 31 December 2020, as after that date it will not be possible to obtain an Irish Transport Management CPC on the basis of holding the UK equivalent certificate. No fee will apply in this case for obtaining an Irish Transport Management CPC.