The Transport Minister has been accused of not doing enough to get a replacement for the Irish Ferries service linking Rosslare with Cherbourg.
The company announced just before Christmas that it was unlikely to operate the route in 2019.
Verona Murphy from the Irish Road Hauliers Association says the response so far from Minister Shane Ross has been poor.
"Shane Ross should be actively looking for somebody to come into Rosslare and usurp the route that will provide what's needed for the exports of Ireland, to keep that foreign-direct investment that we've garnered and keep Irish people in jobs so that the economy will not suffer worse," she said.
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"That route is primary. It's our shortest distance to mainland Europe."
