The Taoiseach has expressed his concern to the French Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, about the damage to the Irish economy caused by the French truckers' strike. Mr Ahern stressed in a written message that a prolonged dispute could affect employment. The Minister for Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, briefed the Cabinet on the matter yesterday morning. She has spoken to the EU Transport Commissioner, Mr Neil Kinnock, and impressed on him the seriousness of the situation for Ireland. She pointed out that as an island nation Ireland depends heavily on road freight for our imports and exports.
Ms O'Rourke has also contacted the Luxembourg Transport Minister, Mrs Mady Delvaux, requesting her to convene an emergency meeting of the EU Transport Council to discuss the dispute. The matter had also been raised at the committee of permanent representatives in Brussels.
The Irish Exporters' Association (IEA) said yesterday exporters had now stopped shipping, and that stocks of their products held in the French market would shortly run out. It said the amount of export trade being disrupted by the action of the hauliers was estimated at £10 million a day. About 12 per cent of this consists of perishable products - meat, dairy, fish. "The Association fears that much of this business will be permanently lost as distinct from shipments of durable goods which may be deferred," it said.
The exporters are particularly worried that the Christmas trade will be badly hit, as companies normally ship high volumes of consumer goods - food, drink, clothing and giftwear - at this time of the year.
The IEA chief executive, Mr Colum MacDonnell, said: "There is considerable anger and frustration on the part of our exporters. The problems which beset the French transport industry have not been seriously addressed by the EU and the international routes have not been kept clear. Eighty per cent of our gross national product is now exported, which makes us singularly vulnerable to transport disputes."
A spokesman for the Irish Road Haulage Association said the situation had been considerably worsened with the blockade of France's 13 oil refineries. Bordeaux had already "run dry", he said.
He said hauliers were now being forced to go through Dover to Belgium, and there was already a 10hour delay at Dover. The British police were operating a "stacking" parking system. They had closed sections of the motorways into Dover and turned them into truck parks.
He said there were about 300 Irish trucks scattered throughout France playing "cat-and-mouse" with the road-blocks. They were mainly avoiding the road-blocks by travelling on the secondary roads. It was only when they came on to the main routes that they got into trouble. The north of France was the worst affected, he said.