Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 January 2021
21. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Transport to ask the Minister for Transport the extra preparations he plans to make to facilitate persons and materials travelling through Cork Airport and the Port of Cork in light of Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38328/20]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, this question has been overtaken by events given that an EU / UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement has been reached, which addresses a number of the key transport concerns. The provisions of the Agreement will ensure continuing connectivity with the UK in aviation, road freight, passenger transport and maritime.
However, in the run up to a potential no-deal Brexit scenario, it had not been anticipated that direct maritime or direct air services by community carriers from Ireland to continental Europe would be affected. Furthermore, had a no-deal arisen, it was expected that the European Commission would introduce a contingency measure in the area of aviation connectivity similar to the measure introduced in 2019 which would have ensured continued connectivity to the UK.
As such, no significant impacts had been expected for Cork Airport as the required changes had been implemented in relation to the UK's exit from the EU. The situation was similar for The Port of Cork Company in that no significant impacts were expected, as they had regularly reviewed the potential outcomes of Brexit and what impacts these scenarios might have had on their activities. There were no impacts expected as their current RoRo (Roll-on Roll-off) services are directly linked with the EU and as such not impacted by Brexit.
