Acceptance of amendment No. 168 involves the deletion of section 68 of the Bill.
Section 68 deleted.
NEW SECTIONS.
SECTION 68.
Amendments Nos. 168a and 169 not moved.
I move amendment No. 170:
In page 57, before section 69, to insert the following new section:
69.—(1) A road authority may, after consultation with the Commissioner, make bye-laws to regulate and control skips on public roads.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), bye-laws under this section may—
(a) specify the area or areas to which the bye-laws relate;
(b) specify requirements in relation to—
(i) the siting and removal of skips,
(ii) the dimensions and other characteristics of skips,
(iii) the lighting and marking of skips for the purpose of making them readily visible to road users,
(iv) the care and disposal of the contents of skips,
(v) the period of deposit of skips on public roads,
(vi) the earliest practicable removal of skips once full,
(vii) the clear and indelible marking of skips with the name, address and telephone number of the owner or provider,
(viii) the giving of security or the provision of an indemnity;
(c) provide for the issue by the road authority of licences in respect of the deposit of skips on public roads and for the payment of specified fees in respect of such licences;
(d) provide for the attachment of conditions to licences, including conditions relating to any or all of the matters referred to in paragraph (b).
(3) Before making bye-laws under subsection (1), a road authority shall—
(a) publish a notice in one or more newspapers circulating in the area to which the bye-laws relate—
(i) indicating that it is proposed to make bye-laws,
(ii) indicating the times at which, the period (which shall be not less than one month) during which and the place where a copy of the draft bye-laws may be inspected,
(iii) stating that objections or representations may be made in writing to the road authority in relation to the draft bye-laws before a specified date (which shall be not less than two weeks after the end of the period for inspection) and stating that persons making such objections or representations may make a request in writing to state their case at an oral hearing conducted by a person appointed by the road authority for that purpose,
(iv) stating that a copy of the draft bye-laws may be purchased on payment of a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making such copy;
(b) consider any objections or representations made to it under paragraph (a) and not withdrawn;
(c) if it considers it appropriate, afford an opportunity to persons making objections or representations and who so request in writing to state their case at an oral hearing conducted by a person appointed by the road authority and consider the report and any recommendation of the person so appointed.
(4) The making of bye-laws under subsection (1) and the consideration of objections or representations under subsection (3) shall be reserved functions.
(5) The bye-laws shall, as soon as may be after they have been made, be published in Iris Oifigiúil and notice of their making and of the place where copies of them may be purchased or inspected shall be published in one or more newspapers circulating in the area to which the bye-laws relate.
(6) Any person who contravenes a bye-law under this section which is deemed to be a penal bye-law shall be guilty of an offence.
(7) An authorised person may—
(a) remove or reposition a skip which contravenes bye-laws made under subsection (1),
(b) notwithstanding the provisions of such bye-laws or of a licence issued under them, remove or reposition a skip which he considers presents an immediate and serious hazard to persons using a public road.
(8) An authorised person may store, or procure the storage of, a skip removed by him under subsection (7).
(9) Where the name and address of the owner of a skip removed and stored under this section can be ascertained by reasonable inquiry, the road authority concerned or the Commissioner shall serve a notice upon the owner informing him of the removal and storage and of the address of the place where the skip may be claimed and recovered, requiring him to claim and recover it within one month of the date of the service of the notice and informing him of the statutory consequences of his failure to do so.
(10) A skip removed and stored under this section shall be given to a person claiming the skip if, but only if, he makes a declaration in writing that he is the owner of the skip or is authorised by its owner to claim it and, at the discretion of the road authority concerned or the Commissioner, pays the amount of the expenditure reasonably incurred in removing and storing the skip.
(11) The road authority concerned or the Commissioner may dispose, or procure the disposal, of a skip removed and stored under this section if—
(a) the owner of the skip fails to claim it and remove it from the place where it is stored within one month of the date on which a notice under subsection (9) was served on him, or
(b) the name and address of the owner of the skip cannot be ascertained by reasonable inquiry.
(12) A skip shall not be disposed of under this section within six weeks of the date of its removal under this section.
(13) In this section—
"authorised person" means—
(a) a person authorised in writing by a road authority for the purposes of this section;
(b) a member of the Garda Síochána;
"skip" means a container used for the storage or removal of builder's materials, rubble, waste, rubbish or other materials and which is designed to be transported by means of a mechanically propelled vehicle (as defined in the Act of 1961).
This amendment provides for the insertion of a new section in the Bill regulating and controlling the use of rubbish skips on public roads. There are frequent complaints made in the Oireachtas and elsewhere about the dangers caused to road users by skips. This amendment responds to these concerns providing local authorities with flexible powers to make by-laws regulating skips. This approach has been adopted because different levels of control may be appropriate as between major urban areas and smaller towns and between urban and rural areas. These powers are also being devolved entirely to local authorities. Ministerial approval is not required for these by-laws though local authorities will be obliged to consult the Garda and to undertake public consultation.
The power in subsections (1) and (2) to make by-laws is very widely cast and includes the power to introduce a licensing regime, if required, and to specify requirements as to the siting, lighting, removal etc.
Subsections (3) and (4) provide for a public consultation process on the same lines used elsewhere in the Bill, and reserve the power to make by-laws to the elected members of a local authority.
Subsections (7) to (12) give local authorities and the Garda power to remove and store skips in breach of the by-laws or which are causing a serious and or immediate hazard to road users. The procedures in these subsections are similar to those elsewhere in the Bill. For example, section 66, dealing with the removal of temporary dwellings or section 68 concerning unauthorised signs and vehicles.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment No. 171 not moved.
I move amendment No. 172:
In page 57, before section 69, to insert the following new section:
"69.—(1) It shall be the responsibility of each roads authority to provide secure parking areas for articulated trucks in each area where it thinks necessary.
(2) Where a parking area referred to in subsection (1) is provided by a roads authority it shall be an offence on the part of the owner to park an articulated truck on a public road except when he is engaged in delivery or some other activity connected with his business.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) it shall also be an offence on the part of the owner of any truck over 25 feet in length to park such truck on any private road or any road within a housing estate.".
As some Deputies may be aware, one can become involved in protracted cost problems with individuals who may not even be constituents when one is a spokesperson on different subjects. I have got myself into that position in relation to a man in Cork who is involved in a dispute with his neighbour. He and his neighbour do not get on. His neighbour drives a truck for a living and parks his truck just outside this man's house, a huge truck which blocks the light from his and neighbour's houses. The man contends that his neighbour is deliberately doing this. This man has been in touch with me consistently. Having failed to get any satisfaction from the local authority or the Garda authorities, he has been told it is a matter of law making. This can happen in housing estates, people do not want a neighbour's big articulated truck parked in front of their house, especially one over 25 feet in length. We are talking about residential areas. It is a fair point, that such parking should be banned. I have lobbied very strongly for this case. It should be a matter for the local authority to decide, but a local authority will not introduce by-laws on the strength of one person's complaint.
The question is whether it is desirable to have such big vehicles parked in housing estates willy nilly? In many cases neighbours may not mind but, in others they may very well object. I suppose in dense housing estates such parking should not be permitted.
I can easily foresee the Minister baulking at subsection (1) of amendment No. 172. One can have visions of what it would cost local authorities to provide car parks for articulated trucks in every housing estate nationwide. I ask that the baby not be thrown out with the bath water. Will the Minister examine this for Report Stage to ascertain whether local authorities could be encouraged/ empowered to stop drivers of vehicles, above a certain size and length, from parking where they like in housing estates?
This is a growing problem in housing estates where truck drivers bring home their vehicles for their convenience the following morning. They are a nuisance. In my village there is a parking area in front of the school for buses and truck drivers pull in their vehicles which have refrigerated units and an attendant noise much to the annoyance of the teachers. There is no where for drivers of such articulated trucks to park their vehicles. Many such drivers live in housing estates and are a nuisance to their neighbours. Therefore, I can well understand the problem of the man in Cork to whom Deputy Yates referred.
I know Deputies have attributed enormous skills to me this afternoon in terms of the range of problems they have put in my lap. I appreciate their concern for my well being in all of that. Obviously, there are two sides to this story. Deputy Yates referred to a County Cork dweller who has a problem. I have come across this problem in other places. It is difficult to ascertain how it can be resolved. There may be a truck driver who comes home late at night, tired — perhaps at 11 o'clock — who has to begin travelling again early the following morning. In many rural areas it appears to me to be impractical — with the best will in the world — to know how best to cope with the problem. In order to overcome it an alternative parking space would have to be provided presumably by the relevant local authority or by private enterprise, if feasible. The position is different in city areas, where there is a real need for the provision of commercial parking space for vehicles of that kind. This may well be applicable in some major towns also. Notwithstanding that, there is some fear that it is not possible to solve individual problems relating to the parking of vehicles that may occur in different parts of the country and particularly the problem raised by Deputy Yates in the manner proposed in this section. I will undertake to examine this area further between now and Report Stage.
If the Minister waits for a readymade package that will provide a solution to every problem to be put on his desk, the problems might never be solved. At some stage direction is required from a Minister who must say "I want this problem solved, and come forward to me with solutions". I am not saying that the Minister has shown any lethargy in having that approach to the job but sometimes the intervention of a Minister is required to bring about a solution. What has been said is reasonable. In the case referred to earlier the action of the neighbour in parking his truck in front of another neighbour's house is spiteful. The neighbour is parking his truck there deliberately to annoy his neighbour who has no recourse to a civil remedy; he cannot get an order to have it removed. There appears to be a gap in the law in this regard and, perhaps, I will resubmit a similar amendment on Report Stage when the Minister may have considered the matter further.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.