No Covid test needed for hauliers on direct maritime route from Ireland to France 

Lorry driver George Mc Glashan from Dungannon Northern Ireland being swabbed at the RocDoc Dublin Airport facility for Covid-19. Picture: Maxwell's

Hauliers travelling on direct maritime routes from Ireland to France are no longer required to produce a negative test result for Covid-19. 

Introduced by the French government in January to prevent the spread of the new UK variant of the coronavirus, feared for its increased transmissibility, hauliers had been required to produce evidence of a negative Covid-19 test taken within the previous 72 hours on arrival in French ports. 

Now, due to the low positivity rates present among commercial vehicle drivers, the French government has updated this regulation with immediate effect. 

In a statement confirming the announcement, the Department of Transport said the decision is in line with the European Union's Green Lanes recommendations, introduced to facilitate transportation of freight during the pandemic. 

However, proof of a negative test result is still required for lorry drivers travelling from Great Britain to France or the Netherlands. This means that any hauliers arriving from Ireland to these destinations via the UK landbridge still require evidence of a negative Covid test. 

Existing facilities in Ireland and Britain, set up in response to the French testing regulations in January, will continue to offer drivers a Covid-19 test. 

Hauliers travelling to Germany must continue to have proof of a negative Covid test result. 

The Department of Transport has said just 14 cases have been identified from the 5,743 anti-gen tests carried out by RocDoc at Irish ports-– a positivity rate of 0.24%.

Freight workers arriving in Ireland that do not display symptoms of the virus continue to be exempt from testing and quarantine regulations. 

The Department of Transport has said this is in the interests of keeping supply chains open within the EU's Single Market and that it encourages other EU member states to follow this policy. 

Introduced as the UK formally left the EU's Single Market following a Brexit trade deal agreed last September, the Covid testing regime saw considerable disruption to Irish freight at the country's ports as the hauliers adapted to the new measures introduced. 

The Irish Road Hauliers Association (IRHA) has described these delays as a significant issue and said Irish lorry drivers are "bearing the brunt of it".