The minister with responsibility for farm safety has said he is strongly opposed to any potential increase in the legal age for driving a tractor on a public road.

Speaking at a Kerry IFA meeting on Monday night, Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae said the age at which people can drive a tractor must be retained at 16, as help from younger family members is a necessity on many farms.

“This idea that, ‘Oh, we should increase it and it should be 17 before they go on the road’ – I would be totally and absolutely against that. I just wouldn’t agree with it,” Healy-Rae said.

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“There’s no one inside in this room getting younger. We need these young fellas. When there’s silage on and slurry to be drawn, we need young people to keep things going at home. It’s the practical, sensible thing to do,” he said.

Minister Healy-Rae added that he does not think any tractor driving training should be compulsory. Instead, he said he is putting more Department of Agriculture funding towards tractor driving courses for young people.

“I will continue over the coming years to put more and more money into [tractor training courses], quite simply because I really believe that we want young people to be safety aware.

“We want them to be capable. We want them to be trained, as you’d call it, but I don’t want it to have to be in anyway compulsory,” he said.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) indicated in recent months that it is considering introducing a tractor driving test, as well as a mandatory tractor course which could include driving lessons. Previously, the RSA also said it was reviewing the age at which a tractor can be driven.

Kerry IFA agreed to draft a proposal in response to this, which will include retaining the current tractor driving age at 16 and that all training would be voluntary.