A concrete manufacturing company which employs some 200 people has been convicted of several breaches of EU road transport regulations.
Oran Pre-Cast Concrete Ltd, with registered offices at Deerpark Industrial Estate, Oranmore, Co Galway, pleaded guilty yesterday to 12 breaches of road transport regulations and was fined €5,500 at Galway District Court. The firm allowed two of its drivers to work without taking designated breaks from driving their trucks.
Department of Transport official Shay McNulty gave evidence of examining the company's transport records and tachograph equipment for 2006 and finding 12 discrepancies which led to the prosecution of the company under EU road transport safety regulations.
Six summonses before the court related to Polish driver Dearak Busack, who on six dates last July exceeded the daily driving period allowed under current transport regulations.
Mr McNulty said the remaining six summonses related to a specialist long-distance lorry driver, Pat Hughes, who, six times in May, June and July last year, failed to take the minimum rest periods allowable by law within each 24-hour period.
Mr Busack, who carried deliveries of sand to local towns, should have driven for just nine hours a day but records showed he regularly exceeded that period by one to two hours.
Mr Hughes should have taken mandatory 11-hour rest periods within each 24-hour period, but records showed that on one occasion he only took a four-hour rest period and on another, just six hours.
Prosecuting State solicitor William Kennedy said the charges relating to Mr Hughes showed relatively significant breaches of the mandatory rest periods but, he said, the company had taken steps to rectify all matters and had instructed their drivers to comply with the regulations from now on.
Mr McNulty confirmed to the court that the company had no previous convictions and had been most co-operative during his investigation.
Mr Kennedy said the maximum fine in each case was €5,000 and/or a prison sentence, but the Minister for Transport wanted convictions on six of the 12 summonses before the court, plus Mr McNulty's expenses.
Defence solicitor Shane MacSweeney said all matters had been rectified. He said drivers had been put under pressure caused by traffic delays along routes and by delays on sites.
He said Mr Hughes was trained to drive a "Trombone" trailer, which was used to transport large concrete beams from Oranmore to Dublin and Sligo.
He said the long vehicle was obliged to travel at night-time and at the time of these offences was transporting concrete beams to work at the Shelbourne Hotel, in Dublin.
Judge Mary Fahy said the breaches caused by Mr Hughes were serious because they involved long, arduous journeys.
She said he could have fallen asleep at the wheel because he was not taking proper rest periods and human error of that nature could have had serious repercussions. She convicted and fined the company a total of €3,500 on three of the summonses relating to Mr. Hughes' breaches of the regulations.
Regarding Mr Busack, the judge imposed fines totalling €2,000 on the company and ordered it to pay €65 witnesses' expenses to Mr McNulty.