The ruling by the European Court of Justice that super-trucks cannot be banned in Austria has reopened the debate about truck traffic through the streets of Dublin and the height of the Dublin Port tunnel. The regional government in Tyrol introduced the ban on environmental grounds but the court ruled that it obstructed the free movement of goods between EU members and was illegal under European law.
Not surprisingly, the ruling has been welcomed by the haulage industry here. It had argued that the height of the tunnel should be increased to allow for the new generation of super-trucks. When the Government finally announced that the height would remain unchanged, the Taoiseach dismissed the protests of the hauliers by saying that super-trucks were not needed and that any arriving on our shores "should be stopped and sent back out". It was a glib response to a complicated issue.
The reality is that super-trucks probably are needed and it is almost certain that they cannot be kept out of the State. The court's ruling, as the Department of Transport was quick to point out, related to the weight of the trucks and not the height. But if the court can come to the view that a weight ban is a restriction on the movement of goods and against EU law, then it could take the same view of a height ban, especially when the difference in height is less than six inches.
Super-trucks are widely used in the UK which is our largest trading partner by far. There is a cost benefit and an environmental benefit, because larger trucks should mean fewer trucks. At present, over 400 of these trucks pass through Dublin Port each day and the number is growing. The Department of Transport says that, because of the restricted tunnel height, "alternative routes" will be provided for super-trucks.
What alternative routes? The noise and nuisance of trucks is bad enough in cities, where there is considerable noise already, but to have them roaring through suburban roads is unthinkable. In addition, nobody need doubt that the number of super-trucks coming into the State will increase significantly. The height of the tunnel has been decided on for better or for worse. The tunnel, due to open next May, is costing over €700 million and has caused exceptional disturbance to traffic and residents. Yet will there shortly come a time when Dublin's roads are again full of trucks while the tunnel, built expressly to take trucks off the roads, finds itself carrying an ever-diminishing level of traffic? The Government must quickly fashion a sensible and thought-through plan for the trucks the tunnel cannot accommodate.