Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 November 2015
588. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to introduce testing of agricultural machinery for safety on the road, such as for emissions, braking systems, lights, hitches, tyres, etc; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41666/15]
View answerVehicle roadworthiness testing is governed by Directive 2009/40/EC as last amended by Commission Directive 2010/48/EU. Currently there is no requirement to subject agricultural tractors to compulsory roadworthiness testing. However, the new EU Roadworthiness Testing Directive (Directive 2014/45/EU) which is effective from May 2018 requires Member States to introduce compulsory testing for tractors with a maximum speed rating exceeding 40km/h and used for commercial road haulage purposes.
My Department will work with the Road Safety Authority to implement this requirement in line with the May 2018 deadline. At present there are no plans to subject tractors used purely for agricultural purposes to compulsory testing.
