Contractors have been invited to address politicians on the planned testing of tractors at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport next Wednesday. Richard White, president of Farm and Forestry Contractors Ireland (FCI), said he will raise concerns that the new regime could bring significant new costs for contractors and their farmer clients.

This week the RSA stated that there will be stakeholder engagement and consultation prior to implementation of the new testing requirements.

A spokesperson said the RSA was currently drawing up the technical details of the test. It would be based on the contents and test methods laid down in Annex 1 of the relevant EU Directive.

He said that the test would be likely to cover similar items as are already examined during a test on a commercial vehicle, such as a farm jeep. That would include basic road safety items such as braking, lighting, steering, suspension, towing devices, tyres, etc.

The RSA will shortly be consulting with the Department of Transport on details of which tractors work on public roads will come under the new rules. The tractor models classified as fast for the purposes of roadworthiness testing are determined by the Certificate of Conformity given to every tractor sold in the EU by its manufacturer. Models certified as T5, if used for commercial haulage, will require testing. These are wheeled tractors having a maximum design speed of more than 40km/h.