MORE TO BE BROUGHT IN TO PROTECT CHANNEL TUNNEL TERMINAL
The County Wexford woman who is National President of the Irish Road Hauliers Association has welcomed the British goverenment’s intervention in the situation with migrants at Calais port in Northern France.
This morning, the UK announced that hauliers and truck drivers affected by the situation in Calais will not face fines for breaching rules under tachograph legislation.
120 extra French police officers have been drafted in overnight to protect the Channel Tunnel terminal in Calais, after more migrants tried to break into it in the early hours.
The Irish Road Haulage Association says they approached the Irish government on waiving tachograph legislation a month ago but were told it wouldn’t work.
President of the IRHA, Ramsgrange woman Verona Murphy, is welcoming this morning’s decision by the UK government but says they’re disappointed the Irish government didn’t take the lead:
“They won’t have to worry about the fact that they’ve gone over their hours, they won’t have to worry that they’re going to be stopped and interrogated and pay huge fines – which essentially end up being absorbed by the transport companies” she said.
“So this is something that we’re very pleased about, but we’re very disappointed that it wasn’t an Irish-led initiative – given that we were the first in the IRHA to represent our members on this point” she added.
