Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Europe and North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has spoken in the Assembly Chamber this week of his concern that the Welsh Government had failed to meet with Irish Government counterparts to discuss the implication of Brexit for Ireland-Wales transport links.
Speaking in the Debate on the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee's report on the implications of Brexit for Welsh ports, Mr Isherwood said that the report recommends “that the Welsh Government urgently addresses the lack of engagement it has had with counterparts in Ireland and other EU member states”.
Speaking in the Chamber, he said:
“As our Report states, concerns over implications of Brexit for Welsh ports centre on three areas: that a soft border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will displace traffic from Welsh ports to those in England and Scotland, via Northern Ireland; that any new customs arrangements will create technological and logistical challenges for our ports, and that many Welsh Ports lack capacity to accommodate any new border controls and customs checks.
“It is therefore concerning that the Welsh Government only accepts in principle our recommendation that it seeks clarification from the UK Government on the anticipated timescales for the development and implementation of proposed new IT-led customs arrangements, and sets out how it expects the cost of these new arrangements to be borne.
“Stena Line Ports warned that Holyhead was constrained by space and would have not have the capacity to stop vehicles.
“It is therefore also concerning that the Welsh Government only accepts in principle our recommendation that it sets out how it intends to address the lack of physical capacity to accommodate new borders and customs checks at Welsh ports.
“In 2015, 50% of more than 750,000 lorries carried along the central corridor to Dublin passed through Holyhead. After Dover, Holyhead is the second largest roll-on roll-off ferry port in the UK, with a business model dependent upon the “open ports policy”.
“Emulating the responsible approach being taken by the Irish Government, the Welsh Government should therefore be making detailed preparations now to ensure any new arrangements do not lead to a displacement of traffic from Welsh ports , principally Holyhead.”
He added:
“The Irish Transport Minister told us that the Common Travel Area issue should be resolved without any real problem and the Irish Department for Foreign Affairs told us “you can leave the Customs Union and still have customs arrangements afterwards”.
“In its response, the Welsh Government states only that “it seeks to mitigate the risk to Welsh businesses of a lack of preparedness by working with HM Revenue and Customs.
“But Irish Ferries told us “that an IT-led solution would be key and that discussions between HM Revenue and Customs and the sector were already underway”.
“Perhaps this explains why the Committee had to recommend ‘that the Welsh Government urgently addresses the lack of engagement it has had with counterparts in Ireland and other EU member states’ - having heard that Ireland has had over 400 engagements over Brexit across Europe, but the Cabinet Secretary here confirmed that he had not yet met Irish Government counterparts to discuss the implications of Brexit for Ireland-Wales transport links.”