Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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593. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if there is a legal requirement for haulage companies to pay agreed upon subsistence rates to drivers that are separate to drivers’ wages; and if there is an agency or body to which drivers can take grievances in relation to the matter. [52871/19]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Subsistence rates and related conditions and guidelines for road haulier driver-employees are set out by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, for the purposes of determining tax liabilities. Haulier drivers have the option of operating on the basis of the agreed rates outlined by the Revenue Commissioners, or the Civil Service rates. Alternatively, employers may reimburse employees for actual receipted expenditure incurred. 

There are no specific provisions in transport legislation requiring that haulage companies pay subsistence separate to drivers' wages. Subsistence payments depend on the nature of an employee's work and contract of employment and whether he or she incurs expenses as part of his or her work, for example, if they are temporarily away from their ordinary place of work or abroad. Subsistence payments are not a substitute for wages. 

More generally, legal requirements regarding these and other employee emoluments or entitlements are a matter for my colleague the Minister for Employment and Social Protections.

Grievances in relation to employment law that are not resolved at a local level may be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission. It is suggested that queries in these areas should be addressed to the relevant offices.