Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has confirmed in a written Dáil reply at the end of November that depending on the number of axles, axle spacing, and type of coupling, agricultural vehicles will be able to have a total gross weight of up to 28 tonnes. This is an increase from the previous proposal of 24 tonnes.

He added that in view of the increase in safety risk associated with the larger and heavier vehicles using the public road, tractors and trailers operating at the higher weights would be subject to roadworthiness testing.

He said that proposed new regulations would also stipulate trailer axle spacing, vehicle and trailer plating, lighting and visibility, braking and coupling, driving licences, on-road behaviour, accident reporting, roadworthiness testing and enforcement.

The Minister added: “The draft Statutory Instrument to give legislative effect to the Minister’s road safety related decisions is being prepared by the RSA and will be submitted to the Department shortly.

“Proposals to introduce a roadworthiness test for agricultural vehicles is a wasteful duplication of exiting obligations on farmers,” said Harold Kingston, chairman of the IFA Environment and Rural Affairs Committee. “This will add unnecessary and additional costs to the sector. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 already requires farmers to ensure that tractors and other farm machinery are in good working order,” he added.

“Regarding the proposal to introduce specific weights for trailer loads, Minister Varadkar must not repeat the mistakes associated with the unworkable load clearance height restrictions introduced in November and must ensure that all farmers are able to continue to transport farm produce efficiently,” Kingston said. IFA is meeting Minister Varadkar in early February to seek workable solutions to these issues.

Farm Contractors Ireland (FCI) chairman Timmy O’Brien said: “There needs to be more negotiations and consultations on the issues around tractor weights. Contractors and farmers will need adequate time to prepare trailer in terms of axles and drawbars to achieve the maximum weight limits being proposed.” FCI is meeting Minister Varadkar on the matter next week.