KENNY SPEAKS IN DÁIL ON ROAD TRANSPORT BILL 2011

Posted on November 24, 2011 11:00 AM   |   Permanent Link   

Road Transport is governed by a number of Acts which date back to 1933, as well as by a wide array of national regulations and EU legislation. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport will be conducting a review of all this legislation with a view to bringing forward an updated and comprehensive Road Transport Bill to replace the existing Acts and to set the direction for road transport policy for the coming years. The Minister hopes to do this in 2012.

The legislation before the House presently is a short, largely technical bill, the reason being that is that it is required to be enacted by the 3rd of December due to the coming into force of new EU Regulations on road transport operators on the 4th of December. These new Regulations are replacing a previous EU Directive and because of this, some matters which were previously provided for under Irish national secondary legislation now have to be provided for by primary legislation - hence this Bill, which needs to be in place when the new EU regulations come into force.

Licences are required for road transport operations dealing with road haulage and road passenger transport which is carried out for hire and reward - that is, on a commercial basis. Vehicles that are operating as part of the fleet of a business, for example, a fleet of vans for a supermarket, do not require one of these licences. Road haulage licensing applies to haulage operations in Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs), and road passenger transport licensing to carry more than 8 passengers. Certain activities are exempt from the requirement to have a licence, such as carrying mail, refuse and waste and also transport connected with funeral services. These exemptions are repeated in the Schedule to the Road Transport Bill 2011.

Licences can be for national activity only, or for international activities which also includes national activities. The key criteria for licences are good repute, good financial standing, and professional competence. From 4 December it will be required that establishment in the State will be a formal requirement (although it already applies in practice).

Road transport is a very important to our economy, both in terms of the movement of goods and people and as well as being a significant employer. High standards in the sector - and the good reputation that goes with them - are important for our economic competitiveness. It is important that the public have the assurance that the operators they engage are licensed, safe, reliable, and amenable to the law. It is also very important for legitimate operators that they are not undermined by those operating either without licences or without complying with the licence standards, including safety on the roads.

I wish to draw particular attention to an item in the Bill that I think is important - in addition to providing for the maintenance of the above provisions in Road Transport legislation, the Bill also introduces the existing provisions relating to the criteria of good repute for applicants and holders of licences, specifically in relation to taking into account serious and violent convictions such as murder, drug trafficking etc. It extends the list of positions within an operation to which this applies, to include directors, business partners etc, and to include drivers in passenger transport operations. The fitness and suitability of operators is one of the key criteria for obtaining and holding a licence.

This comes under the heading of "good repute", and not every applicant will satisfy this requirement. For example, if an applicant were to have a record which contained certain convictions or penalties relating to road safety, breaking health and safety legislation or smuggling, this would raise questions about good repute in a road transport business, and potentially give grounds for refusing an application or withdrawing a licence.
This is already part of national policy and legislation. Any convictions relating to a range of serious and violent offences such as murder, human trafficking, firearms offences and drug trafficking also have a very direct bearing on good repute. It applies whether the offences were committed in Ireland or in another jurisdiction and failure to provide this information in an application will be an offence. The existing regulations related only to serious convictions of the operator, but the Bill extends this to include other positions in the business such as directors, business partners and transport managers, and crucially to drivers with passenger firms.