Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

235. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the suspension of an operator licence for a company (details supplied) will be delayed until February 2023 to give the owner time to fill the vacancy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49932/22]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The entity in question is not a company, but a sole trader (Mr Eamon Fitzpatrick) trading under the registered business name “Fitzpatrick Fuels.” Mr Fitzpatrick was granted an international road haulage operator licence on 13 March 2020.

To continue to hold a road transport operator licence, an entity must comply with four key requirements as specified by Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) 1071/2009. This includes the key requirement of requisite professional competence, which is a public interest sectoral requirement in a road safety context.

The professional competence requirement is satisfied where an operator designates a natural person to act as “transport manager.” The transport manager will continuously and effectively manage the transport operations of the licence holder. To this end, the transport manager must:

- be of good repute

- hold an appropriate qualification granted by an EU/EEA Member State

- reside in the territory of the EU/EEA

- have a genuine link to the licence holder undertaking or be externally engaged on the basis of a written contract

Following Brexit, the natural person previously designated by Mr Fitzpatrick to act as transport manager no longer satisfied all of the criteria set out in the European Regulation. The Department has engaged extensively with Mr Fitzpatrick on this matter and in July 2022 proposed to suspend the operator licence for continued non-compliance with licensing requirements. Mr Fitzpatrick has made representations to the Department indicating that he misunderstood the timeline within which remedial action should be taken. In these representations, Mr Fitzpatrick requested that the Department allow him until end of November 2022 in order that he can return to compliance with licensing requirements. This request was granted by the Department. Article 13 of Regulation (EC) 1071/2009 allows for a maximum time limit of 6 months to return to compliance in respect of professional competence, as a result no further extension is possible. Where an eligible natural person is not designated transport manager by end of November 2022, the Department is required by the European Regulation to suspend the licence from 1 December 2022 until Mr Fitzpatrick again demonstrates requisite professional competence requirement. It remains open to Mr. Fitzpatrick to procure the services of an external transport manager, even on a temporary basis, in order to comply with licensing requirements.