The report, which was published on Tuesday, said that the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) have written to the Department of Transport pointing out that July was the wettest July on record, leading to delays with the grain harvest.
Ger Hyland, incoming president of the IRHA, told The Irish Times that hauliers were restricted from working longer than 12 hours in any one day, but while waiting for farmers to fill trailers with grain, who in turn were waiting for “a three-hour, dry-weather window”, much of the drivers’ time was spent not driving. Restrictions also apply to weekend work, he said.
“The upshot is that drivers who might start at 8am, are standing around and in many cases cannot get the grain to the drying sheds in time for it to qualify as a premium product for the malting industry”, Mr Hyland told The Irish Times.
The article also quotes Tim Cullinan, president of the IFA, as saying that “farmers are working within a very narrow weather window to harvest grain, often at high moisture contents”.
Mr Cullinan said the IFA understands that a decision has already been taken “not to grant an exemption to hauliers involved in this specific area for this short period of time”. He called for an urgent review of the “disappointing outcome”.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport told the Irish Times that there were a number of factors to be considered in deciding on a derogation from the drivers’ hours rules.
“The derogation must address an urgent issue and it must also be in response to exceptional circumstances. Equally, a derogation should not in any way jeopardise driver or road safety” he said.
The spokesman said having consulted the Road Safety Authority and Department of Agriculture the request had been initially been refused. But, he said following the receipt of additional information from the farmers and hauliers “the department is currently engaging with relevant stakeholders to assess this request and determine whether it represents an urgent and exceptional situation requiring a derogation”.