Mattie McGrath presses minister on M20 reroute and port delays
Mattie McGrath raised a proposal to reroute the M20 and highlighted acute delays at Dublin Port affecting imported cars. He urged the minister to intervene, asked for a written reply and sought a meeting in Tipperary.
M20 reroute proposal
Mr McGrath outlined a plan first put forward by the county manager to divert the M20 from Limerick towards Cair and Palace Green to link with the underutilised M8. He said the scheme would have saved 400 million, cut emissions and, while adding about 20 minutes to some journeys, could provide a quicker route to Cork or Dublin.
Local engagement and meeting request
He thanked the minister for agreeing to engage with local groups including Jobs for TIP, Matt for TIP and the Chamber of Commerce, and invited the minister to visit Tipperary following a recent Zoom meeting. He referenced Clonacilty as a model and said he looked forward to meeting the minister in Tipperary soon.
Dublin Port tariffs and car imports
Mr McGrath described problems at Dublin Port where 18 to 20 lorries carrying multiple cars were held up due to new tariffs and stamp/duty requirements at point of entry. He said the duty should be collected when VRT is paid at the VRC centre, that traceability exists, and that drivers have been detained in cabs or at the port for up to 48 hours while revenue issues are resolved.
Call for national action and written reply
He said revenue officials were trying to help locally but argued the matter required national attention, naming the Minister of Finance, the minister and the Second General as those who must sort it out. He asked for a written reply and immediate action to resolve the port and tariff problems.
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Minister, I'm bringing you on to be in Tipperary in Clonacilty, God help us. I've wonderfully exposed you by our tea last week, I hope you saw it, because I know you're due to visit Tipperary and you're due to meet, not visit, the Zoom meeting, and I thank you for that with Jobs for TIP, Matt for TIP and indeed the Chamber of Commerce. And we want to do what happened in Clonacilty in Tipperary and we want you to assist us. And one way you could do this Minister, I believe, is to come along and change from the M20 is now going to, from Limerick to Cork. Joe McGrath, the County Manager, put forward a proposal some years ago, I brought to Deputy Ross at the time, Minister Ross, to come to Cair, from Limerick to Palace Green on to Cair, where the M8 is there, and it's underutilised, would have saved 400 million and would cut down emissions and would add 20 minutes obviously to the journey, but would be a quicker way of getting to Cork or Dublin, and would have linkage from Cork to, from Ferrari, from fines, the port of fines to Ross there, which is so badly needed. The other issue, Minister, I want to ask you about, and I have to ask you about, is Cranic, I've spoken to the Tarnished about this, it's the new tariffs on imported goods, goods that are supposed to be repackaged. Now, cars aren't repackaged, but unfortunately they've fallen into this, and there's 20 lorries, 18 trucks this morning in Dublin Port, with up to 10 and 12 cars on them, all held up because of an issue where you want to get the stamp, the duty on those cars paid at the point of entry. This should be paid when the VRT's been paid, at the VRC centre, when it's always paid, the traceability is there, so would you please look at this, because it's holding up, drivers are being incarcerated literally for one day, maybe 48 hours, in their cabs, or at the ports, and if money's not in the account to pay for one car, or if that money hasn't been credited properly by revenue, it's wrong. There's a problem with the revenue, and the revenue are trying to help at local level, but nationally, the Minister of Finance, yourself, and the Second General must sort this out, so I'd ask you, please, to try and sort out those issues, will you please. You might give me a written reply, because you're having time today, obviously, to sort that out, and it's very important that you deal with that last issue, and we look forward to the meeting with you in Tipperary very shortly.
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