Mr. Michael Moroney:

The FCI is looking for an extension of the hedge cutting season on public roads to allow for mid-year maintenance of hedgerows for road safety reasons. European research has shown that most on-road accidents involving farm machines happen at crossroads or intersections where a farm vehicle turns right or left or enters the road from the field or under the road. In this situation the operator of the farm vehicle needs good visibility in all directions to see other vehicles and avoid accidents.

We are witnessing significant and expensive damage to tractor lighting and mirror systems, as well as similar damage to trucks caused by unmanaged hedgerows. Visibility is severely restricted when exiting fields on many such roads owing to non-existent hedge management by local authorities. Tractors have longer bonnets and the German Government is looking towards supporting land based contractors in fitting camera systems on the front of tractors where the distance from the driver's seat to the front of the tractor extends more than 3.5 m. We would like to think the Irish Government would consider supporting a similar initiative here.

The practical use of L and N plates is a source of significant concern for FCI land based contractors. It is adding more management issues as, in some cases, when trailers are changed between tractors, there is little option in some fleets other than to paste an L and an N plate on every machine. There is also an issue for drivers with learner permit W driving licences which are specifically for work vehicles. The RSA has informed the FCI that the driver who holds a learner permit is required to be accompanied by a qualified driver if there is a passenger seat fitted. If no second seat is fitted in the tractor cab, the driver is not required to be accompanied by a qualified driver. There is a huge anomaly attached to this because most of the tractors with the additional seat are more modern, safer, more desirable and typical of contractor fleets. Do we want people to go back to having ancient tractors in order not to have a second seat in the cab?

FCI member have been subject to considerable hassle by local gardaí who have issues in interpreting some specific regulations as they impact on tractor use on the public road. They include issues in the use of the hard shoulder. Is it illegal to use it to let traffic pass, or is it illegal to create a tailback with a slow moving vehicle? Some of our members have had to endure two penalty points because they pulled into the hard shoulder to let traffic pass and in other cases where they did not pull in, they were considered to be driving carelessly. We need to have the matter clarified and interpreted locally.

I know that there is a Bill on cycling coming through the House, but there are growing numbers of cyclists on rural roads, particularly in groups at the weekend. The requirement to allow a space of 1.5 m in overtaking a cyclist is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve on many N and R grade roads. While it is legal to cycle two abreast, in many instances FCI members meet groups of cyclists travelling four abreast who show little interest in other road users. We have noted that some of these cyclists move at speeds in excess of 40 km per hour, while the proposal is that at these speeds tractors undergo an NCT. There is no special licence required to ride bikes at this speed and no formal training is needed. There is no NCT for bicycles rated at speeds in excess of 40 km per hour. There are more accidents involving cyclists than tractors, according to the RSA's statistics.

We represent in excess of 500 legitimate farm and forestry contractors, approximately 70% of those operating in the country, who harvest in excess of 80% of national silage crops and are vitally important to agriculture and rural development. They manage and handle up to 80% of the animal manure produced on farms. They employ 10,000 people and in many parts of rural Ireland are the only employers. They are also significant consumers, consuming more than 500 million litres of diesel annually in harvesting and operating machines. They operate more than 20,000 tractors, approximately one third of the national fleet. Typically, they will invest in the region of €100 million per year in new machinery. In that way, they support many local farm machinery distribution and manufacturing companies, as well as local employment. FCI land based contractors support and encourage the maintenance of the highest standards of safety in the use of tractors and other items of machinery when operated on and off the road. The FCI has initiated and will continue to initiate driver training programmes to enhance standards. FCI land based contractors are responsible machinery users who have at their core the safety of their operators, other road users and their expensive machinery. They work in challenging conditions when variable Irish weather conditions determine the amount and quality of the work they can do. They seek recognition of the important role they play in farming and the forestry industry. We seek fairness in the treatment of legal aspects of operating agricultural and forest machinery when travelling to and from work in using public roads.