Road Transport Act 1978

1. Definitions.

1.—In this Act—

“the Act of 1971” means the Road Transport Act, 1971;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Tourism and Transport;

“the Principal Act” means the Road Transport Act, 1933.

2. Amendment of section 9 of Principal Act.

2.—The following section is hereby substituted for section 9 of the Principal Act, as amended by the Road Transport Act, 1934, and the Act of 1971:

3. Amendment of section 14 of Principal Act, and consequential provisions.

3.—(1)The following section is hereby substituted for section 14 of the Principal Act, as amended by the Act of 1971:

(2)As soon as practicable after the passing of this Act—

(i)the Minister shall notify the holder of each merchandise (existing carrier's) licence of the amended number of vehicles he is entitled to operate;

(ii)a notification under this subsection shall constitute an amendment of the relevant licence;

(iii)the Minister shall correspondingly amend the particulars of each merchandise (existing carrier's) licence in the register of merchandise licences kept under section 6 of the Act of 1971.

(3)Every holder of a merchandise (existing carrier's) licence shall, as soon as practicable after the passing of this Act, apply to the Minister to have the amended number endorsed on the licence and the Minister shall accede to every such application as soon as practicable.

4. Amendment of section 8 of Act of 1971.

4.—The following section is hereby substituted for section 8 of the Act of 1971:

5. Orders by Minister relating to international agreements, etc.

5.—F1[(1) Where an act of the European Communities relating to international transport by road, an international agreement relating to such transport to which the Government, the State or the European Communities is a party, or an agreement, arrangement or resolution relating to such transport to which the Minister is a party so requires, the Minister may by order exempt any specified class of vehicle or any specified class of such transport fromsection 7 of the Road Transport Act, 1932, sections 6 and 7 of theRoad Transport Act, 1935, or any provision of—

(a) any Act, or

(b) any regulations made under theEuropean Communities Act, 1972,

providing for the licensing of road freight carriers or road passenger transport operators or the issuing of transport discs.]

(2)The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section.

F2[(3) Road passenger vehicles which are permitted to be imported into the State under an agreement referred to in subsection (1) of this section that is in force on the day on which this subsection comes into operation shall be deemed to have been exempted from the provisions ofsection 4of the Road Transport Act, 1999, by an order made under subsection (1) of this section.]

5A. F3[Continuation of international carriage of passengers by road

5A....]

6. Licensing of road haulage in new areas.

6.—(1)F4[…]

(2) F4[…]

(3) F4[…]

(4) F4[…]

(5) F4[…]

(6)Section 36 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

7. Provisions relating to vehicle plates.

7.—F5[…]

8. Transitional provision relating to merchandise (existing carrier's) licences.

8.—F5[…]

9. Modification of Road Transport Act, 1956.

9.—F7[…]

10. Expenses.

10.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

11. Short title and construction.

11.—(1)This Act may be cited as the Road Transport Act, 1978.

(2)The Principal Act and this Act shall be construed together as one Act.