THE ROAD Safety Authority (RSA) has submitted proposals to the Department of Transport to ban agricultural vehicles from motorways and restrict their use in the haulage industry.
The proposals were drafted in response to what it called an increasing number of serious collisions involving agricultural vehicles, and follow lobbying by the road haulage industry concerning the number and quality of tractors and trailers used on construction sites and quarries.
The Irish Timesunderstands the document contains recommendations for hard-hitting regulation of tractor and especially trailer use on public roads.
Much of what the RSA recommends was detailed by chief executive Noel Brett in a recent submission to the Oireachtas Committee on Transport. Mr Brett said there were “several incidents involving very old tractors in poor condition in the last quarter of [last] year.”
In relation to competition with licensed hauliers he said: “We cannot have tractors involved in illegal haulage. . . We must protect the legitimate haulage industry.”
But he added: “ Ireland is a rural country and people have the right to earn a living. . . Whatever we come up with must allow [farmers] to make a living outside the harvest season. . . I am aware of the complexity of the situation.”
Farmer Liam Mounsey of Co Kilkenny who is campaigning against the changes described the proposals as “idiotic”.
Dáil Deputy Phil Hogan said he would be raising the issue in coming days “to ask the minister to bring clarity and common sense” to the issue.
