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All-Island Freight Forum

Stakeholder Workshop on Freight Statistics and Data Gaps

The Dept. for Regional Development in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency and the Central Statistics Office are co-hosting a stakeholder workshop dedicated to freight statistics on October 5th, in Bedford Hall, Dublin Castle.

The purpose of this workshop, held under the auspices of the All-Ireland Freight Forum, is to discuss and review the responses to the stakeholder consultation conducted during September 2011 and agree how best to prioritise the issues raised.

In advance of the workshop we would like to thank all those agencies and institutions that responded to the consultation. We hope to see you on October 5th.

Venue: Dublin Castle, Bedford Hall, Dublin 2

Time: 11.00

Date: October 5, 2011

All Island Freight Forum
Priority 5 - Network Management
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle
October 5th, 2011

Summary of Proceedings 

The Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland (DRDNI), the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the Northern Ireland Statistics Research and Agency (NISRA)hosted a stakeholder workshop in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle on October 5th, 2011. The purpose of this workshop was to review and discuss responses from an earlier stakeholder consultation, to ensure no significant data gaps had been overlooked and also to prioritise the data gaps identified.

27 people attended, representing government agencies and departments North and South, the media and private industry. There was a high level of participation and discussion, resulting in some worthwhile and useful feedback. A number of important knowledge gaps had been identified via the written submissions. Discussions on the day suggested that there were additional significant data gaps and understanding that had not emerged, for example, better information regarding the structure of the freight industry, pricing and fuel tourism and consumption.

An outline of the proceedings is listed below:

  • Welcome and background to the AIFF - Nicola Fisher, DRDNI
  • Putting the workshop and importance of data in context - Eoin Magennis, InterTrade Ireland
  • North - South comparability and potential information gaps - Naomi McLaughlin, DRDNI
  • Freight Data for National & Regional Transport Planning - Eoin Farrell, NTA
  • User Consultation Feedback - Steve MacFeely, CSO
  • Comments/ Issues arising from presentations - Eoin Magennis, InterTrade Ireland

The plenary session then broke into groups for a light working lunch, to discuss the presentations, identify issues that have been overlooked and assign priorities to the data gaps. Returning to a plenary format, an active discussion followed where ideas and gaps were collected from the floor.
Derval Cummins (Ernst & Young) gave a thought provoking wrap-up talk, gathering together many of the discussions point from the day and bundling them into packages, such as structure, efficiency & technology, infrastructure, environment etc.
The DRDNI, CSO and NISRA will now conduct a gap analysis of all the feedback received and submit a report to the All Island Freight Forum by the end of 2011.

Presentations: