The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) are seeking an exemption from rules relating to resting times for truck divers involved in grain haulage.
Both associations believe that the temporary relaxation of these rules are necessary in order to ease pressure on harvested grain collection, arising from weather-related delays to the harvest.
In a letter addressed to IFA president Tim Cullinan, IRHA vice-president Ger Hyland said that the Department of Transport had refused an initial request for a derogation from driver and rest-time rules to allow for the collection of grain.
The IRHA made that request on behalf of both itself and the IFA.
According to Hyland, the Department of Transport came to this decision on foot of recommendations from both the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
Hyland told Cullinan: “The Department of Agriculture [Food and the Marine] has not indicated that there is any risk to the overall production of grain in Ireland that could be considered ‘urgent’ or ‘exceptional’.”
Hyland said that the IRHA submitted a letter to the Department of Transport on behalf of the IFA, and that the hauliers group had asked that department to reconsider its decision.
“They must have the blinds down in the Department of Agriculture and the RSA for the last month and have not noticed the appalling weather that is impacting on the grain harvest,” he said.
“As a representative body for the licenced haulage sector, we had requested that the Department of Transport recognise the chronic and acute crisis impacting on the grain harvest arising primarily from the poor weather conditions of the last month.
He added: “Given the very tight time-window for the collection and drying of grain to ensure that the crop meets the required specifications, we had requested that the Department of Transport grant a limited exemption from the working time restrictions, similar to that granted in other EU member states.”
According to Hyland, a limited exemption to the rest-time rules would allow the safe and timely collection and transportation of the harvest, without any increased road safety risks arising.
The IRHA vice-president said that such an exemption would have been consistent with EU requirements for derogations to these rules, in that it would be limited in scope (applying only to drivers involved in grain haulage); temporary (applying for only 30 days); and involved a limited extension of working time (an increase of two hours per week).
“I deeply regret that the Department of Transport has not seen fit to grant this derogation in light of the national emergency and the limited scope,” Hyland said.
He added: “The effect of this inflexibility means that hauliers will face risk of prosecution and sanction if they work outside of existing driving limits, regardless of the emergency position at present.”
Hyland told Cullinan that the IRHA’s members “remain very keen” to assist farmers to get harvested grain into appropriate storage.
“It is a matter of serious annoyance that they will be frustrated in this regard by the inflexible application of EU rules by our own department [of transport], when other member states have recognised and granted the need for flexibility to address what constitutes a serious challenge to our agriculture and food sector,” he said.
Hyland told the IFA president: “You may have more success raising the matter with the Department of Agriculture [Food and the Marine], but despite putting our collective best foot forward, the Department of Transport has [up to now] said a firm ‘no’.”