Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 December 2020
219. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Transport when his Department first flagged the unique issue related to transport managers in Ireland in relation to Brexit with the European Commission; when his Department first contacted transport managers in relation to the need to obtain an Irish qualification; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42692/20]
View answer220. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Transport if he has investigated the possibility of directly transferring the qualifications of experienced transport manager without the need to sit the transport management examination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42693/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 219 and 220 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 established in Ireland (or in any other EU Member State) must have a nominated Transport Manager who resides in the EU 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 their notice to stakeholders in 2018 and more recently in July of this year, after the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December any Transport Manager CPC issued by an authority of the United Kingdom or a body authorised by the United Kingdom will no longer be valid to work for an EU operator. 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 wrote to these Transport Managers and the relevant operators in October 2019 to highlight the position as outlined by the European Commission and communicated with them again last month in this regard.
The matter of UK-issued Transport Manager CPCs held by Transport Managers working for Irish operators is among the issues that have been raised by my Department in ongoing engagement with the European Commission in the context of Brexit. The matter similarly impacts, for example, on people living in the EU and working for other EU-based operators but holding a UK-issued Transport Manager CPC. The Commission recently provided clarification that a corresponding Irish Transport Management CPC may be issued to UK-qualified individuals working for Irish operators, 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 with responsibility for issuing Transport Management CPCs in Ireland on behalf of my Department. A further communication has now been issued by my Department to affected Transport Managers to outline how to contact CILT in order to obtain an Irish Transport Manager CPC.
It is important to note that application must be made 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 a UK certificate. My Department has emphasised this point to affected Transport Managers and has urged them to contact CILT as soon as possible.
No fee will apply in this case for obtaining an Irish Transport Management CPC.
