Irish hauliers set to profit from Channel Tunnel ban
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• Irish container hauliers could profit if a ban on Irish goods using the Channel Tunnel gets the go-ahead next month.
Britain is calling on the Irish Government to impose strict security checks on containers of goods destined for tunnel trains—checks which are currently made when the cargo reaches the UK.
Rail Freight Distribution (RID) has carried out the security verification at Liverpool's Seaforth Container Terminal for the past two years, but it is to scrap the check from 8 November because it is too expensive.
If the Irish don't take over the security screening, £1bn worth of Irish goods a year will be banned from using the Channel Tunnel on RID trains, The company say the decision was taken because freight volumes through Liverpool have not been high enough. "We want to see the maximisation of traffic through the tunnel but Irish exports have not met the expectations of freight forwarders," it says.
Colin McDonald, chief executive of the Irish Exporters Association, hopes a solution will be found but says it may be in the hauliers' interest for the ban to go-ahead: "One way or another goods have to be carried," he adds. "It won't be negative for hauliers because the goods would have to go by ferry."
The DOT will meet Ireland's Marine Department in Dublin next week to try and resolve the situation.