Written Answers. - British Registered Vehicles.
John Stafford
Question:
39
Mr. Stafford
asked the
Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications
if he will outline the terms and conditions under which British registered vehicles either (a) hired, (b) leased or (c) under commercial contract, are allowed to operate in the State; and whether there is a time limit on their operation.
I am assuming that the Deputy is referring to the terms and conditions under which British registered commercial vehicles may operate in the State while engaged in the carriage of goods by road for hire or reward. The same conditions apply to all vehicles as detailed in (a), (b) and (c) in the question.
There are three arrangements under which British or Northern Ireland registered vehicles, exceeding 2.5 metric tons unladen weight and hauling for hire or reward may deliver goods into and bring goods out of the State. These are as follows: first the United Kingdom/Ireland Bilateral Road Transport Agreement, which permits road haulage to, from or in transit through the territories of both States. This agreement also provides for reciprocal exemptions from vehicle excise duties and road taxes; requires mutual compliance with transport and traffic regulations in our respective territories and provides for certain enforcement procedures; second, the EC multilateral quota scheme, under which each member state receives an annual allocation of transport authorisations for distribution to its hauliers. These authorisations allow hauliers to undertake multilateral carriage of goods for hire or reward throughout the Twelve member states of the Community; third, the ECMT multilateral authorisation scheme, which is similar to the EC scheme but authorisations in this instance are valid for seven other European countries in addition to the Twelve EC member states.
As part of the ongoing process of liberalisation of the road transport sector, it was agreed with the UK authorities that was effect from 1 January 1990 there would be no need for the presentation by British or Northern Ireland hauliers of any permit or authorisation under any of the foregoing schemes while operating in the State. On a reciprocal basis, the same applies to Irish hauliers operating in Britain and Northern Ireland. There is no time limit imposed on these operations. All hauliers must, however, be properly licensed to operate in accordance with their own national legislation.
None of the schemes to which I have referred provides for cabotage operations, that is, point-to-point carriage of goods within a country by a non-resident haulier. With effect from 1 July 1990, however, the European Community introduced by way of regulation a limited system of cabotage, whereby special authorisations, each valid for either one or two months, are issued to member states on a quota basis. Ireland received 595 authorisations, each valid for two months, for distribution to Irish hauliers for the period July 1990/June 1991, enabling them to undertake cabotage operations in any or all of the other 11 member states. The UK likewise received an allocation of 1,124 authorisations for distribution to their hauliers. If a British or Northern Ireland registered vehicle is, therefore, engaged in point-to-point haulage for hire or reward within the State, it must be accompanied by a valid cabotage authorisation.
The EC Regulation introducing cabotage also requires such non-resident operators to comply with the specific regulations in the host state relating to transport, traffic and revenue requirements.
I should stress that the schemes outlined above relate exclusively to the hire or reward sector of the transport industry. Own-account transport, that is carriage of one's own goods in one's own vehicles, is not subject to these procedures.
