The Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road Bill is about raising standards generally in all matters concerning the transport of dangerous goods internationally by Irish carriers and on Irish roads. I have no doubt the House will agree that it is imperative that we reach and maintain the highest standards in this area. The unprecedented economic growth we have achieved over the past number of years has inevitably led to a significant increase in road freight movements. Needless to say, there has also been an increase in road movements of dangerous substances with, of course, movements involving petroleum tankers comprising the vast bulk of such dangerous goods. It is incumbent upon us, therefore, to have in place the best possible rules for transport of dangerous goods and have a framework for ensuring that the most recent rules can be implemented without delay.
It is not sufficient however, to have the highest standards in place. We must also work to ensure that those involved have proper and adequate training and that there is adequate enforcement. I will touch on both of these topics later.
I would like at this point to explain the main aspects of the Bill. The primary aim of the Bill is to put in place enabling powers for the making of regulations which will first, allow Ireland to accede to the European agreement concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by road known as the ADR; second, bring into Irish law the European Union Directive 94/55/EC on the approximation of the laws of the member states with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road; and third, bring into Irish law the European Union Directive 95/50/EC on uniform procedures for checks on the transport of dangerous goods by road.
The European agreement concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by road — the ADR — was drawn up in Geneva in 1957 and came into force in 1968. There are 33 signatories to the ADR and Ireland is the only member state of the European Union that is not a contracting party. The agreement contains two detailed technical annexes that set out the circumstances under which dangerous goods may be transported by road across international frontiers. It is an international agreement and deals only with international transport of dangerous goods by road. In practice Irish carriers who transport dangerous goods internationally comply with the detailed provisions of the ADR at present. Therefore, accession to the ADR will not result in significant changes in practice for these operators. It will, however, make compliance simpler by providing the necessary type approval and vehicle certification facilities here in Ireland. It is time, nevertheless, that we acceded to this agreement which will put Irish haulage concerns on an equal footing with hauliers from other contracting parties.
The Bill is largely enabling and will result in the making of one comprehensive and detailed set of regulations. The technical details associated with the carriage of dangerous goods by road are complex and are necessarily updated on a regular basis. I believe it is more appropriate in the circumstances that the detailed rules relating to the carriage of dangerous goods be set down in regulations. These regulations when taken together with the annexes to the ADR will be a vital reference point for all involved in the carriage of dangerous goods by road. Consignors, consignees, transport operators and drivers will have available to them clear instructions as to the requirements and their statutory responsibilities.
I would like now to describe in more detail each of the three principal elements with which this Bill deals. The first element is the European agreement concerning the international carriage of goods by road. The agreement itself is quite short and relatively simple. It consists of 17 articles that define the scope and method of operation of the agreement. Article 1 defines the terms used in the agreement. A key article is article 2 which effectively paves the way for the carriage of dangerous goods by road between the territories of the contracting parties.
Article 3 states that annexes A and B to the agreement form an integral part thereof. Annex A specifies the dangerous goods that are permitted to be carried internationally by road and the conditions to be complied with in such carriage, including packaging and labelling requirements. It also specifies goods that are prohibited from such carriage. Annex B specifies conditions as regards the construction, use, testing and approval of transport equipment intended for use in the carriage of dangerous goods by road and the training and certification of drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous goods by road.
Article 4 allows contracting parties to regulate or prohibit, for reasons other than safety during carriage, the entry of dangerous goods into their territory. It also provides for circumstances where contracting parties, by virtue of bilateral or multilateral agreements with other contracting parties, can allow the carriage of certain prohibited dangerous goods under special conditions.
Article 5 provides transport operations under this agreement remain subject to national and international regulations applicable in general to road traffic, international road transport and international trade.
Articles 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the ADR are housekeeping articles related to such matters as accession, the effective date of the agreement, ceasing to become a contracting party and territories of contracting parties.
Articles 11 and 12 are concerned with the procedure for settlement of a dispute between two or more contracting parties concerning the interpretation or application of the agreement.
Article 13 deals with the procedure for reviewing the text of the agreement itself while Article 14 is concerned with the procedure for the amendment of the annexes to this agreement. Articles 15, 16 and 17 deal with the protocols of signature and ratification of the agreement. The real substance of the ADR is contained in the annexes to which I referred earlier. The annexes specify the technical requirements that must be met when transporting dangerous goods internationally by road. Annex A to the agreement lists the dangerous goods that may be carried and deals with the classification of those goods, packaging, labelling and documentary requirements. These issues are of concern to the consignor of the load. Annex B deals with the vehicle and tank construction requirements and the rules for operation that are the responsibility of the carrier, the operator and the driver of the vehicle.
The system of classification of dangerous goods under ADR is drawn from the recommendations on the transport of dangerous goods, drawn up by the United Nations Economic and Social Council's committee of experts. This system is designed to apply worldwide to all transport modes. Dangerous goods are divided into nine different classes according to the main type of danger they could present in transport, for example, explosion or toxicity. Annex A classifies dangerous goods as follows: class 1, explosive substances and articles; class 2, gases; class 3, flammable liquids; class 4, flammable solids, substances liable to spontaneous combustion and substances that, in contact with water, emit flammable gases; class 5, oxidising substances and organic peroxides; class 6, toxic and infectious substances; class 7, radioactive material; class 8, corrosive substances and class 9, miscellaneous dangerous substances and articles. The technical annexes lay down detailed and comprehensive requirements for each of the nine classes of dangerous goods.
The movement of dangerous goods is in some special cases exempt from the rules of the ADR, for example, where the goods are being carried by a private individual for their own use, inside machines for their operational function, in limited quantities by an enterprise in support of its main activity, such as deliveries by a construction firm to a building site, and in emergency service or recovery vehicles.
If part of an ADR journey comes under other international rules such as the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code for a sea crossing, or the ICAO technical instructions for air transport, those rules additionally apply and replace the equivalent ADR rules for that part of the journey. This is particularly relevant for multi-modal operations. If an ADR journey precedes and follows carriage by sea or air, the goods shall be accepted for carriage under ADR even if the packages and containers are labelled in accordance with the sea or air mode rather than with the ADR.
The second instrument for which the Bill makes provision is the European Directive 94/55/EC of 21 November 1994 on the approximation of the laws of the member states with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road. The purpose of this directive is to apply the detailed and comprehensive rules contained in the annexes to the ADR to national transport of dangerous goods by road. Thus, all transport of dangerous goods entering the State, leaving the State for an international destination or on a journey from point A to point B within the State is comprehended by these rules. The stringent international rules for the transport of dangerous goods between countries will apply to domestic transport of dangerous goods under the new regime. This directive was introduced in the interest of safety, uniformity and free trading across the European Union.
In recognition of the fact that the ADR as an international agreement cannot always be adapted to national transport conditions and requirements, the directive contains a number of articles that provide for the granting of derogations from the full requirements of the ADr. The derogation facility in the directive has been availed of by Ireland in a number of instances where local conditions merited such. It must be stressed, however, that these derogations apply only to domestic transport and not international journeys. These derogations were sought in order to ensure, as far as possible, that the economic impact on the sector would not be excessive, but do not in any way compromise safety.
Other derogations negotiated include reference temperatures that determine the shell thicknesses of LPG tanks suited to our climatic conditions have been accepted — thicker shells are required in hotter regions of southern Europe — and a derogation relating to the transport of explosives that allows for the continued security arrangements associated with such transport. Ireland has also negotiated derogations to cover the transport of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, dispensing gases carried on the same vehicle as beverages, transport of low level radioactive material to hospitals and transport of clinical waste.
The final element of the package concerns Directive 95/50/EC on uniform procedures and levels of enforcement relating to the checking of compliance with Directive 94/55/EC. The main purpose of Directive 95/50/EC is to ensure that member states carry out checks on a representative number of dangerous goods journeys in the State. First, the directive aims to harmonise the quality of checks across the member states. For example, checks must ascertain if the correct documentation is carried in the vehicle, if the goods transported are permitted under the regulations and, if so, that they are transported in the correct containers or packages, that the equipment is in proper working order and is free from leaks or faults. Second, the directive has a quantitative element in that it requires that a representative proportion of consignments of dangerous goods transported by road be subject to checks.
I assure Senators that the legislation being enacted does not mean the carriage of dangerous goods by road in Ireland at present does not meet high standards. A range of statutory instruments made by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment pursuant to the Dangerous Substance Acts, 1972 and 1979, already cover the conveyance of all dangerous substances with the exception of class 1 — explosives and class 7 — radioactive material. These regulations are administered and enforced by the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health. The carriage of explosives is covered under by-laws and rules made by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform under the Explosives Act, 1875, and are administered and enforced by the explosives inspectorate of that Department. The transport of radioactive materials is covered by an order made by the Minister for Public Enterprise under the Radiological Protection Act, 1991, and administered and enforced by the inspectorate of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland. The Government has sanctioned the recruitment of four additional inspectors by the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health, each of whom will be devoted to this work. These inspectors will be fully qualified and properly trained for the task, and will maintain the highest professional standards, as do inspectors currently employed in this area. I am sure Senators will agree that adequate consideration has been given to the vital task of enforcement in this specialised area.
I am also pleased to confirm that training and certification of drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous goods have been in place in Ireland since 1992. Further, by virtue of a statutory instrument introduced in 1997, the more rigorous requirements of the ADR specification for driver training are in place. A number of people providing driver training courses have been approved by the Health and Safety Authority and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Under the regulations, my Department arranges for the examination of drivers as soon as possible after they have completed the course. The examination consists of a written and oral test set by the Health and Safety Authority. Approximately 5,000 Irish drivers have the necessary certificate at this stage, which has ensured the uninterrupted transport of dangerous goods by road.
I wish to highlight certain provisions in the Bill. Under section 17 the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is empowered to make regulations from time to time for the purpose of specifying the requirements concerning the carriage of dangerous goods by road as they evolve. The Bill proposes that the Minister would make the necessary regulations while the Minister promoting the Bill would be the Minister for Public Enterprise.
The ADR was drawn up in 1957 and came into force in 1968. In the absence of steps to ratify the ADR elsewhere, the drafting of the necessary legislation was carried out by the old Department of Transport as accession to the ADR would have been of assistance to Irish hauliers engaged in international haulage of dangerous goods by road. In endeavouring to bring forward the necessary legislation and have the ADR ratified in Ireland, my Department always intended to transfer responsibility back to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment where responsibility properly lies. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has overall responsibility for the Health and Safety Authority which will be the principal enforcement body and which will also enforce regulations for the handling and storing of dangerous goods generally. It is thought that it would be confusing for the public and industry if responsibility for the handling and storing of dangerous goods lay with one Minister while responsibility for their transport lay with another. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has for some time been initiating and enforcing legislation for the transport of dangerous goods by road. This legislation takes the form of regulations made under the Dangerous Substances Acts, 1972 and 1979.
I am happy to say that considerable work has already been done on the necessary regulations, which the Minister is enabled to make pursuant to section 17 of the Bill. Preparation of the regulations is proceeding apace through the work of an interdepartmental committee that has representatives from a number of Departments and State agencies.
The bodies represented on this committee are the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of the Environment and Local Government, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Public Enterprise, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Standards Authority of Ireland.
The regulations have the very important value of bringing all the elements associated with the carriage of dangerous goods by road together in one document or set of statutory regulations. These regulations when read in conjunction with the annexes to the ADR will be invaluable to industry, haulage concerns and drivers alike. For the first time it will bring together in one place the laws and technical requirements necessary to inform persons engaged in the transport of all dangerous substances including explosives and radioactive materials.
A significant element of the legislative framework is the need to ensure that comprehensive and representative numbers of checks are carried out and that breaches are dealt with in a non-discriminatory fashion that is prompted by the requirements of Directive 95/50/EC of 6 October 1995 on uniform procedures for checks on the transport of dangerous goods by road. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide for adequate sanction against both national and international hauliers. The Bill breaks new ground to the extent that there is an effort to put in place measures that would bring out of State carriers to book if the requirements of ADR are ignored or flouted while carrying dangerous goods within the State.
It is my firm opinion that the combined effect of sections 9 and 18 of the Bill is an appropriate response and meets fully our obligations under the directive. Apart from that, particularly in the matter of carriage of dangerous goods by road, there is a need for us legislators to face up to the fact that there is an urgent need to make out of state carriers amenable to the law when operating in the State. This has been achieved in this Bill for matters relating to the carriage of dangerous goods by road. This will give a clear signal that strict adherence to the law is necessary by all those involved in such carriage be they from within or outside the State.
Section 9 is designed to ensure breaches of the Act or regulations made thereunder can be prosecuted against out of state carriers in the course of a journey carrying dangerous goods within the State. This is achieved by arresting any driver whom a garda has reason to believe is committing or has committed an offence and in the opinion of the garda has not given a satisfactory address for service of summons.
The Bill defines what constitutes a satisfactory address as an address at which the person will be for a sufficient length of time for it to be possible to serve that person with a summons or an address of some other specified person who will accept a summons on the first person's behalf. In such cases the address of a firm of solicitors in the State which undertakes to accept summons on behalf of the driver will satisfy this provision. The section is similar to a provision in the United Kingdom Police and Criminal Evidence Act, 1984, that is used extensively by UK police authorities to deal with out of state hauliers in breach of road traffic and road transport legislation in Britain.
In the case of a driver of a vehicle being arrested under this section the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967, as amended by section 3 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1997, come into effect. The procedure is as follows: the arrested driver is brought to the nearest Garda station; he is brought as soon as practicable before the District Court district in which the person has been arrested or he is released on bail to appear at the next appropriate sitting of the District Court; bail can be set by the station sergeant in accordance with section 31 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967; bail can be in the form of recognizance or a sum of money, and it is lodged in the relevant District Court to the court clerk; if the driver fails to appear before the court at the appointed time an application can be made under the relevant District Court rule to estreat the recognizance or to forfeit the sum of money.
Another initiative in this area is the proposal in section 18 to introduce on the spot fines in respect of offences under the regulations made pursuant to section 17 of the Act. This section is an enabling one and it will be a matter for the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to prescribe the class of offences that will be dealt with under this section.
An inspector, who has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing an offence under the regulations may issue a notice to that person stating the following: the person is alleged to have committed the offence, the person may make a payment of £150 without delay to the inspector and a prosecution will not be pursued if the payment is made to the inspector without delay. This provision is significantly different from the existing on the spot fines as we know them. The current system is an invitation to pay a certain amount of money within 21 days and if payment is made no prosecution will ensue. The system proposed here is an invitation to pay a sum of £150 without delay to an enforcing inspector. If the driver refuses to pay and does not have a satisfactory address for service of summons the provisions of section 9 can come into play. If the driver has a satisfactory address for summons and does not pay the fine he can be prosecuted in the normal way.
The fine is currently set at £150; however, the Minister may vary this amount by regulations at any time in order to take account of inflation or if it is felt that a fine set at this level is not enough of a deterrent or that the offences being committed demand greater fines. Flexibility is provided in the Bill as to the currencies and the methods of payment that will be acceptable.
I hope Senators will agree that the Bill is comprehensive legislation which will enable Ireland to accede to its international obligations in this important area and put in place the necessary rules and systems which will ensure safety in the carriage of dangerous goods on our roads.
I commend the Bill to the House.