Skip to main content
Normal View

Haulage Industry

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 January 2022

Tuesday, 25 January 2022

Questions (194)

Darren O'Rourke

Question:

194. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport when he will reinstate the EU rules on driving time and resting time for hauliers; the safety and impact assessments that were carried out in advance of the relaxing of these rules; if he will publish the findings of these assessments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2956/22]

View answer

Written answers

After due consideration of a request made by the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) for an urgent derogation to the driving and resting time rules arising from a high level of driver absence due to confirmed covid cases and the observance by drivers of covid close contact isolation rules, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the Department of Transport jointly agreed to allow a temporary and urgent derogation in respect of certain provisions of the EU driving and resting time rules. In addition to the IRHA request, the Department and the RSA were also in receipt of a number of similar queries from several other individual transport operators.

The derogation was designed to assist in ensuring that key supply chains for food and essential goods were kept open. My Department and the RSA duly considered driver welfare, road safety, operational flexibility and supply chain aspects and reached a decision balancing all of these elements. The flexibilities which were provided are limited in scope and were provided for a limited 21-day period only, applied retrospectively from 9th January 2022 up to 30th January 2022.

Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 provides a common set of EU rules for maximum daily and fortnightly driving times, as well as daily and weekly minimum rest periods for all drivers of road haulage and passenger transport vehicles. The aim of this set of rules is to avoid distortion of competition, improve road safety and ensure drivers' good working conditions within the European Union. Article 14(2) of the Regulation lays down that Member States may grant, in urgent cases, exceptions from the application of the rules for up to 30 days to transport operations carried out in exceptional circumstances. There is no requirement for a safety or impact assessment to be undertaken as part of the temporary derogation process allowed under Regulation No. 561/2006.

The decision to grant the derogation reflects past approaches for dealing with driver shortages during the pandemic. Ireland, like all Member States, is entitled to grant temporary derogations from the EU driving and resting time rules for periods of up to 30 days when dealing with exceptional circumstances such as those caused by Covid. Other EU member states have granted similar derogations at various points during the crisis to alleviate any supply chain blockages. Information on these can be found on the European Commission website here - transport.ec.europa.eu/document/download/4b5a1e1c-3260-4f1f-a208-611e7007154f_en -

Nothing in the derogation changes the rules relating to weekly working time (Working Time Directive for Mobile Workers Directive 2002/15/EC) which must continue to be adhered to. This was highlighted clearly by the RSA in their press release on the matter. In addition, the RSA reminded of the following key points for the implementation of the derogation -

- Driver safety or other road user’s safety must not be compromised. Drivers should not deviate from the rules if it jeopardises road safety nor should they be expected to drive whilst tired.

- Employers remain responsible for the health and safety of their employees and other road users.

- The practical implementation of this temporary relaxation of the rules should be agreed by employers with their drivers.

The derogation is due to expire on 30 January. Since the omicron wave of Covid has now subsided and driver absence levels have reduced, it is not proposed to extend the derogation beyond this date.

Top
Share