Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this Commencement Matter today. It is timely, particularly in the context of the memorandum to Cabinet yesterday regarding the demand management strategy regarding traffic and managing congestion in the biggest urban centres in this country. It is particularly timely because one of the effects of SI 475 of 2022, which was set down by the Department of Transport, is at odds with the ambition and intention of that memo to Cabinet and the strategy referred to yesterday.

SI 475 refers to commercial vehicle roadworthiness test operators and testers regulations. For the record, it is important that we support improvement in and adherence to high standards regarding commercial vehicle testing in this country. The statutory instrument set down a number of improvements regarding the improvement of premises, introducing dimension tolerances for testing premises and removing the special conditions relating to drive throughs and heavy commercial vehicle, HCV, pit lengths. My issue with the statutory instrument involves the requirement for a drive through. The reality is that the statutory instrument will put a number of light goods vehicle testing centres out of business. I know of four centres in Dublin that will be put out of business. The Road Safety Authority has issued these centres with a three-year exemption to 2027 in order to comply with the regulations but they simply will not be able to comply. In the case of William O'Brien Motors in the north inner city, it is 8,500 sq. ft, of which 4,250 sq. ft is allocated to testing. If you were to walk into that centre, you would see that it has the capacity for 360° degree turn. It does not have the capacity for a drive through but everything else is in place and it is top of the range in terms of adherence to the standards that otherwise exist. It will never be able to meet the requirement for a drive through. There are premises in Coolock, Greenhills and Ballymun that also will be put out of business. From a carbon emissions perspective and the perspective of reducing the time that any vehicle is on the road, it is bizarre that we would force light goods commercial vehicles to drive even further to be tested when we have these testing centres in locations close to businesses. William O'Brien Motors is located very close to the docklands and is the only testing centre in the inner city. It was asked by Dublin City Council in 2012 to relocate from a smaller premises to a different premises to serve the need in the city. It serves the needs of businesses coming from Tipperary, Limerick and other places across the country who come to the docklands early in the morning and get their vehicles tested because the vehicles need to be tested annually in contrast to private cars. This system works well. It works well for the inner city and companies in the docklands but the centre will be put out of business in three years' time. My plea to the Minister of State is for changes to be made to the statutory instrument and a bit of common sense to be applied. We want to adhere to standards but we should apply a bit of common sense to ensure the requirement for a drive through is removed.