During the Committee Stage of the Bill both Senators West and Sheldon expressed some doubts about the wording of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 8. Senator West, in particular, felt that there could be loopholes in the words "intended to be" and "exported". Section 8 (1) (a) of the Bill contains a provision which enables the Minister to include in a restricted road freight licence any conditions which he may see fit to impose and specify in the licence. This provision would enable the Minister to include in the licence a condition that the vehicle to which the restricted road freight licence applied could not be used for the purpose of loading goods at one point in the State for delivery at another point in the State.
The necessity to prohibit lorries from outside the State from engaging in point-to-point haulage from within the State is very important. In order to put the question beyond doubt we put section 8 (1) (b) in the Bill. It was recognised that in prohibiting the loading of goods at one point in the State for delivery to another point in the State by a foreign vehicle circumstances might arise where such vehicles could break down between the loading point in the State and the point of exit from the State. In these circumstances the goods would have to be unloaded on to another vehicle. As Senator West pointed out, the vehicle which broke down would have been involved in point-to-point haulage in the State. To provide for this situation the expression "intended to be exported" was included in the original section.
In the exceptional situation mentioned by Senator West, the paragraph as drafted would contain loopholes, so we are now proposing to delete the existing paragraph (b) and to substitute a new paragraph which provides that a vehicle in respect of which a road freight licence has been granted may not be used for the purpose of the delivery of goods in the State which have been loaded on to that vehicle in the State. If there is a breakdown, the provision now is that the vehicle in respect of which the road freight licence has been issued may not be used for the purpose of delivery in respect of goods which have been loaded on to that vehicle in the State. The possibility of a breakdown is not specifically provided for but this is a matter where discretion can be exercised in regard to the bringing of a prosecution. It should be possible to distinguish between genuine breakdown and a deliberate attempt to evade the prohibition on point-to-point haulage.
