asked the Minister for Transport and Power if, in respect of the quotas for freight transport licences issued within the EEC, he will state whether the Government has agreed that the quotas granted to this country will be less than those granted to Luxembourg and almost one-fifth of those granted to Belgium; and, if so, why.
Ceisteanna——Questions. Oral Answers. - Freight Transport Licences.
147.
The licences to which the Deputy refers are those issued under the Community quota licensing system for international transport of goods by road for reward throughout the Community, provided for in EEC Regulation 2829/72, as supplemented by EEC Regulation 2063/74.
Ireland has participated in the system since 1st January, 1973 and details of the allocation of Community quota authorisations between member States since that date are set out in a tabular statement which with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to circulate with the Official Report.
The initial quotas granted to Ireland, Denmark and the UK were fixed in December, 1972, by the six original member States by reference to the then existing overall Community quota and on the basis of statistics of international freight transport between member States of the Community.
None of the new member States was satisfied with its initial allocation and, following discussions at meetings of the Council of Ministers on 24th October, 1973, and 27th June, 1974, which I attended, the quotas were increased. Ireland currently holds 42 Community quota authorisations compared with an initial allocation of 20 authorisations.
It is true that Ireland has fewer authorisations than Luxembourg, whose quota is 58, and Belgium, whose quota is 221, but regard must be had to the fact that involvement in international road haulage by Irish hauliers, while on the increase, is small by comparison with the operations of continental hauliers.
I should mention that the Community quota licensing system is intended to cater primarily for multilateral haulage. Most international haulage is carried out under bilateral arrangements and the conclusion of bilateral agreements with a number of continental countries is the subject of current negotiations. Irish hauliers have not, in fact, experienced any difficulty so far in obtaining necessary licences from the countries concerned.
Following is the statement:
Allocation of EEC Community Quota Authorisations
|
Country |
Allocation with effect from |
|||
|
1st January, 1973 |
1st April, 1973 |
1st January, 1974 |
1st July, 1974 |
|
|
Germany |
286 |
321 |
356 |
356 |
|
France |
286 |
313 |
341 |
341 |
|
Netherlands |
240 |
279 |
318 |
318 |
|
Italy |
194 |
230 |
266 |
226 |
|
Belgium |
161 |
191 |
221 |
221 |
|
United Kingdom |
99 |
114 |
129 |
227 |
|
Denmark |
59 |
68 |
77 |
141 |
|
Luxembourg |
33 |
45 |
58 |
58 |
|
Ireland |
20 |
23 |
26 |
42 |
Is the Minister aware that licensed hauliers are dissatisfied because present licences allow them to deliver goods to certain countries but they cannot try to get business there? Is he also aware that there are a number of large foreign transport firms which can bring goods into this country and also export them?
I am aware that there is a certain dissatisfaction in this area. Between this country and other single countries there is not a problem where there are clear bilateral arrangements. The difficulty arises where there are multilateral arrangements whereby Irish firms can function in a number of countries and can, in fact, solicit work. While this is not ideal I feel that as a result of representations, the outcome of increasing Irish authorisations from 20 to 42 was a step in the right direction. As I understand it, the matter is not closed. We had progression in our allocation. On 1st January, 1973, we had 20; on 1st April, 1973 we had 23; on 1st January, 1974, we had 26 and on 1st July, 1974, we had 42. If we can maintain progression and pressure we can expect that this real concern will be alleviated in the coming period.