Transport chief says progress made on plans for flights, haulage after Brexit

Significant progress has been made on proposals to allow lorries and airplanes to continue to serve UK markets on a temporary basis in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Oireachtas transport committee has heard.

Graham Doyle, secretary general of the Department of Transport, said temporary arrangements to keep planes flying and lorries hauling goods to and across the UK have been the top two priorities of the department’s Brexit unit.

Mr Doyle said the measures were European Commission proposals on which the Irish had been heavily engaged. However, he said they would still need to be approved by the British.

Mr Doyle said the “most significant issues” the department was involved in when it comes to Brexit were the rights of aircraft to fly between the EU and the UK and the rights of hauliers to access the UK and the EU, as well as the difficulties Brexit posed for Irish tourism.

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There had been “very substantial progress for airlines, including in a no-deal scenario, to try and ensure that connectivity for airlines only controlled in the EU continue to fly,” he said.

Contingency

Mr Doyle said “the commission with influence from Ireland and other interested member states has a contingency in place that will ensure that aircraft fly. It is a temporary arrangement” and depended on agreement from the UK.

“It could have been a massive negative to say the very least,” he said.

“Equally,” he added, “there has been very substantial progress on the issue of licensing and the rights of hauliers to enter and leave the country. Arrangements if reciprocated by the UK will allow market access for vehicles for the immediate period following a potential no deal...I think it is a nine month agreement”.

Mr Doyle said “these were some of our main issues, they were probably the top two identified as the number one risk across the department in relation to Brexit”.

He said the department was involved with the Department of Agriculture and the Revenue in relation to “the checks that they need to carry out” once the UK became a “third country” for customs purposes.

Assistant secretary general of the Department of Transport Ken Spratt said this year would see an increase in the department’s budget of about €35 million. Some €15.5 million would be allocated to tourism marketing and businesses in Ireland to ensure they were Brexit ready. Around €19.5 million would be earmarked for capital development and greenways development,” he said.