Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise today a matter that was recently brought to my attention regarding a little accident. Most of us grew up or have been around rural settings and farmyards. We would have learned our trade driving different machines and started off in tractors and all that sort of stuff. There have been great campaigns on safety with regard to machinery in recent years but there is something that deserves a debate and that we should thrash out.

The licensing system for younger people to drive tractors does not differentiate the type of tractor he or she drives and that is a big issue. We see high-powered tractors now of more than 200 horsepower carrying heavy machinery and heavy loads. Trying to stop some of these machines on the road is nigh on impossible over a short distance. I certainly would not have a problem with a 16-year-old with little experience driving something in a field in a rural or agricultural setting where it would be appropriate. The on-road use of heavy machinery by people who probably have very limited experience deserves consideration, however. In particular, there should be some link to the horsepower of a tractor or machine that somebody with very little experience is able to drive. I would have no problem with that. Heretofore, a person would be driving little Massey Ferguson tractors and whatever else around and it would not pull the socks off them but nowadays, some of these machines are going at 40 km/h, 50 km/h and 60 km/h on the road while carrying behind them some heavy machinery and trailers. It really is something we must tease out. We want to encourage young people into farming. I am certainly not a killjoy in that regard. It would be worthwhile to debate the issue here to see where that might go.