UP TO 10 per cent of the Republic's freight movements could be made by rail, instead of road, if Iarnród Éireann staff agreed to drive the trains, an Oireachtas Committee was told yesterday.

John Whelan, chief executive of the Irish Exporters Association, told the Oireachtas Committee on Transport that freight forwarders have been seeking improved access to the railways for a number of years, as exports were increasing.

Despite the economic downturn, exports from Ireland had increased by 4 per cent over the first nine months of this year, he told the committee. Efficient ports could act "like mini-IDAs" he said, "attracting manufacturing business to Ireland".

But he warned, the country also needed to have efficient methods of getting freight to and from the ports, and he told members of the committee that his association "have been knocking on the door of the managing director of Iarnród Éireann since last January", but to little avail.

He instanced a number of routes around the country where he said there was interest from freight forwarders in gaining access to the railways, particularly at night. These included routes from Limerick and the northeast into Dublin, Waterford to Dublin and from Birdhill to Limerick, among others in the Cork area.

Committee chairman Frank Fahey said as a previous minister for the marine he had been told by Iarnród Éireann that the company could not run a freight train between Waterford and Dublin at night, because there were too many level-crossings.

Mr Fahey asked Mr Whelan if this was still the case and he added: "Are you now saying that we can't have extra trains running at night, because CIÉ can't get the drivers?" Mr Fahey said he would be interested in calling CIÉ before the committee.

Mr Whelan replied that he understood that industrial relations at Iarnród Éireann was one of the difficulties and efforts were being made to solve this.