Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This law was introduced in 2008 and companies were given five years to comply with it. It is not a case of whether it is applied - it has been the law for several weeks now and I assume that it is being applied. I am not aware of the company that the Deputy specifically mentioned, but I am aware of other companies that say they can carry bales three-high in their vehicles because they have a lower trailer and have adjusted the wheels and tyres accordingly. They have complied with the legislation and can load bales three-high. There is an interesting letter in the Irish Farmers' Journal from a company in Carlow specifying that it can do that because it did comply with legislation and was prepared to do so.

The reason for this is not tunnels. Most of these vehicles do not go through tunnels and there are only three tunnels anyway. The reason is bridge strikes of which there have been 1,200 in recent years. Only two weeks ago, trains to and from Galway were stopped for an hour because a vehicle hit a bridge. Only last week, we had a bridge strike in Clontarf. Anytime a large vehicle hits a bridge, trains have to be stopped and Irish Rail has to investigate to ensure it is safe.

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