Road Transport Act 1999

1. Interpretation.

1.—(1) In this Act—

“the Act of 1935” means the Road Transport Act, 1935;

“the Act of 1978” means the Road Transport Act, 1978;

“the Act of 1986” means the Road Transport Act, 1986;

F1[‘Community licence’means a Community licence—

(a) issued under Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No. 1072 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009^4to a haulier carrying goods by road for hire or reward, or

(b) issued under Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No. 1073 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009^5to a carrier of passengers by coach and bus for hire or reward;]

F2[‘international road haulage operator’s licence’means an international road haulage operator’s licence granted under section2of the Road Traffic and Transport Act 2006;

‘international road passenger transport operator’s licence’means an international road passenger transport operator’s licence granted under section2of the Road Traffic and Transport Act 2006;

‘Minister’means Minister for Transport;

‘national road haulage operator’s licence’means a national road haulage operator’s licence granted under section2of the Road Traffic and Transport Act 2006;

‘national road passenger transport operator’s licence’means a national road passenger transport operator’s licence granted under section2of the Road Traffic and Transport Act 2006;]

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

“restricted road freight licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3;

“road freight carrier’s licence” means a national road freight carrier’s licence or an international road freight carrier’s licence;

“road passenger transport operator’s licence” means a national road passenger transport operator’s licence or an international road passenger transport operator’s licence;

“transport disc” means a transport disc issued under section 4;

“transport officer” means a transport officer appointed under section 15 of the Act of 1986.

(2) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended;

(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended;

(c) a reference to an enactment includes a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act.

2. Duration of licence.

2.—A road freight carrier’s licence or a road passenger transport operator’s licence that is granted after the commencement of this section shall be in force for such period stated in the licence being not more than 5 years from the granting thereof, unless the licence is revoked or suspended by the Minister.

3. Restricted road freight licences.

3.—(1) Notwithstanding anything in the Principal Act or the Road Transport Act, 1935, the Minister may grant, in respect of a vehicle which complies with the conditions specified in section 7(1) of the Road Transport Act, 1935 (as amended by section 29 of the Transport Act, 1958), a licence (which shall be known and is in this Act referred to as a “restricted road freight licence”) to a person authorising the person to import the vehicle and to use it for the purposes of merchandise road transport in the State, subject to any conditions which the Minister may see fit to impose and specifies in the licence.

(2) The Minister may by order declare that a licence or class of licence (as may be specified in the order) granted by the competent authority of another State, an international organisation or a person or body acting on behalf of such an organisation in pursuance of an act of the European Communities, an international agreement relating to international transport by road to which the Government, the State or the European Communities is or are a party, or an agreement, arrangement or resolution relating to such transport to which the Minister is a party, shall be deemed to be a restricted road freight licence, and any such order made before the coming into operation of this section shall continue in force and be deemed to have been made under this section.

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

(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as permitting a person to use a vehicle, in respect of which a restricted road freight licence has been granted, for the delivery in the State of goods which have been loaded onto that vehicle in the State, except where an order made by the Minister under subsection (2) expressly permits such delivery.

(5) A person who is, or is deemed under subsection (2) to be, the holder of a restricted road freight licence in respect of a vehicle, is not required, in respect of that vehicle, to—

(a) hold a road freight carrier’s licence, or

(b) obtain a transport disc.

(6) The Minister may at his or her discretion charge a fee of such amount as he or she may determine in respect of a restricted road freight licence or a licence deemed by order under subsection (2) to be a restricted road freight licence.

4. Issue of transport discs.

4.—(1) Subject to this section, the Minister shall, on application, issue to the holder of—

(a) a road freight carrier’s licence,

(b) a road passenger transport operator’s licence, or

(c) a Community licence,

a transport disc in respect of each vehicle to be operated under the licence.

(2) An application for a transport disc shall—

(a) be in such form and contain such information in respect of the applicant and the vehicle to which it relates as the Minister may from time to time determine, and

(b) be accompanied by the appropriate fee prescribed under section 7.

(3) Subject to subsections (4)(a) and (5), a transport disc—

(a) is valid for a period up to five years from the date in respect of which it is issued, and

(b) shall be made of such material, and shall be of such pattern and show thereon such information and markings as the Minister may from time to time determine.

(4) Where, on application to the Minister in such form and containing such information as the Minister may from time to time determine, accompanied by the appropriate fee prescribed under section 7, the Minister is satisfied that—

(a) a transport disc issued in respect of a vehicle has been lost or destroyed or is worn or defaced so as to be illegible, the Minister may issue a replacement transport disc to be valid for the remainder of the term of the transport disc that it replaces, or

(b) a vehicle in respect of which a transport disc has been issued is undergoing repairs, the Minister may issue a permit for use in a replacement vehicle during such period not exceeding 21 days as the permit indicates, and in such case the provisions of this Act apply to the replacement vehicle and the permit as if the permit were the transport disc for the vehicle.

(5) Where the holder of a licence adds a vehicle to that licence, the disc issued in respect of the vehicle added shall be valid only until the date of expiration of the licence.

5. Prohibitions and general provisions relating to transport discs.

5.—(1) No person shall operate a vehicle for the carriage—

(a) of passengers under a road passenger transport operator’s licence granted, or a Community licence issued, after the commencement of this subsection, or

(b) of merchandise under a road freight carrier’s licence,

unless a transport disc has been issued in respect of the vehicle.

(2) Where a transport disc has been issued in respect of a vehicle, no person shall—

(a) operate the vehicle unless the disc is displayed in or on the vehicle in accordance with such instructions as may be issued with the disc by the Minister, in a place that enables the disc to be readily visible and accessible for inspection and does not obscure the vision of the operator of the vehicle while it is being driven, or

(b) operate the vehicle if the disc displayed in or on the vehicle is worn or defaced to the extent that the information and markings required to be shown thereon are illegible.

(3) Where—

(a) a vehicle in respect of which a transport disc has been issued ceases to be used in connection with the operation carried on by the holder of the licence to which the vehicle relates, or

(b) the holder of the licence ceases to be lawfully entitled to carry on the operation to which the licence relates,

the holder shall, if the transport disc is removable from the vehicle, within 30 days, remove it and return it to the Minister.

(4) A person who contravenes any provision of this section shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500.

(5) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (2)(b), it shall be a defence for the person to show that an application for a replacement transport disc under section 4(4)(a) had been made at the time of the alleged offence.

(6) A certificate signed by an officer of the Minister or a Superintendent of the Garda Síochána stating—

(a) that a transport disc was issued on a specified date to a specified person in respect of a specified vehicle, or

(b) that on a specified date or during a specified period a transport disc was not in effect in respect of a specified person or vehicle,

shall, without proof of the signature or that the person who signed was such officer or Superintendent, be received in evidence in any proceedings under this Act and shall, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be proof of the facts stated in the certificate.

6. Offences relating to transport discs.

6.—If any transport disc issued in respect of a particular vehicle is affixed to any other vehicle, the owner of the first-mentioned vehicle and also the owner of the other vehicle (if he or she is not the same person as the owner of such first-mentioned vehicle) shall each be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

7. Regulations relating to transport discs.

7.—(1) The Minister may by regulations prescribe the fee to be paid on an application for a transport disc. and may prescribe different fees in respect of different kinds or categories of transport discs, whether as fixed amounts or amounts determined by reference to the type of vehicles to be operated under the licence or by reference to such other matters as the Minister considers are relevant in connection with the charging of such fees.

(2) A regulation under subsection (1) may provide that all or a specified portion of any fee that is paid on an application for a transport disc is not required to be returned to the applicant and may be retained by the Minister as administrative costs in the event that the disc is not issued.

(3) The Minister may by regulations exempt any class of holder of a road passenger transport operator’s licence or vehicles of any specified class of such holder from the requirements of section 5.

8. Application of provisions relating to transport discs and vehicle plates.

8.—Except where the contrary intention appears, the provisions of the Principal Act that apply in respect of—

(a) a vehicle plate, shall apply with any necessary modifications, in respect of a transport disc, and

(b) a transport disc, shall apply with any necessary modifications, in respect of a vehicle plate.

9. Prohibition relating to the use of unlicensed persons for the carriage of merchandise.

9.—Section 36 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsections for subsection (1):

“(1) No person shall engage or use the services of any undertaking for the carriage by road for reward of merchandise in a vehicle unless—

(a) the undertaking is the holder of a road freight carrier’s licence, or

(b) the carriage is one in respect of which a road freight carrier’s licence is not required by law.

(1A) In subsection (1) ‘undertaking’ means any natural person, any legal person, whether profit-making or not, any association or group of persons without legal personality, whether profit-making or not, or any official body, whether having its own legal personality or being dependent upon an authority having such personality.”.

10. Amendment of section 5 of Road Transport Act, 1978.

10.—(1) Section 5 of the Road Transport Act, 1978, is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution for subsection (1) (inserted by section 29(8) of the Dublin Transport Authority Act, 1986), of the following subsection:

“(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 from section 7 of the Road Transport Act, 1932, sections 6 and 7 of the Road Transport Act, 1935, or any provision of—

(a) any Act, or

(b) any regulations made under the European Communities Act, 1972,

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

and

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(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 of section 4 of the Road Transport Act, 1999, by an order made under subsection (1) of this section.”.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an order made by the Minister under section 5(1) of the Road Transport Act, 1978, which is a subsisting order at the commencement of subsection (1)(a), shall continue in force until duly revoked by the Minister.

11. Parking and operating space for vehicles to be provided by licence holder.

11.—(1) The holder of a road freight carrier’s licence or a road passenger transport operator’s licence shall, as a condition of the licence, ensure that adequate parking spaces and operating premises are provided in the State for the vehicles being operated or intended to be operated under the licence.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of a person who holds a licence on the day immediately preceding the date on which this section comes into operation until the expiration of three years after that date.

12. Licensing document offences.

12.—(1) A person who—

(a) alters or causes or permits the alteration of a licensing document, or

(b) engages in the carriage of goods or passengers by road for reward while in possession of a licensing document that has been altered,

shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500.

(2) A licensing document shall be deemed to be a public document for the purposes of section 4(2) of the Forgery Act, 1913.

(3) In this section, “licensing document” means—

(a) a road freight carrier’s licence,

(b) a road passenger transport operator’s licence,

(c) a Community licence,

(d) a transport disc,

(e) a restricted road freight licence, or

(f) such other document as may be prescribed.

13. Arrest without warrant.

13.—(1) Where a member of the Garda Síochána alleges to a person that the member suspects that such person has committed or is committing an offence resulting from a contravention of—

(a) the Principal Act (including an Act construed as one with it) or any instrument made under that Act, or

F3[(b) any regulation made under section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 giving effect to an act of an institution of the European Communities in relation to road haulage, road passenger transport or the issuing of transport discs,]

the member may require of such person his or her name and address, and if such person gives an address outside the State, the member may require the person to give to the member an address within the State, which is satisfactory to the member, for the service of any summons, and may, if such person—

(c) fails to give his or her name and address,

(d) gives a name or address which the member has reasonable grounds for believing is false or misleading, or

(e) having an address outside the State, fails to give an address within the State or gives such an address which the member has reason to doubt is satisfactory for the service of a summons,

arrest such person without warrant.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), an address is a satisfactory address for service if it appears to the member of the Garda Síochána that—

(a) the person will be at the address for a sufficiently long period for it to be possible to serve the person with a summons, or

(b) that some other person specified by the first-mentioned person will accept service of a summons for the first-mentioned person at the address.

(3) Where a person—

(a) When his or her name is required of him or her under subsection (1), refuses or fails to give his or her name and address or gives a name or address which is false or misleading, or

(b) having an address outside the State, when required under subsection (1) to give an address in the State, gives an address which is false or misleading,

such person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

14. Amendment of Road Transport Act, 1986.

14.—(1) Section 1(1) of the Act of 1986 is hereby amended by the deletion of the definitions of “international road freight carrier’s licence” and “national road freight carrier’s licence”.

(2) Section 16(1)(i) of the Act of 1986 is hereby amended by the insertion after “used for a purpose connected with road transport” of “, including the engagement or use by a person in the premises or place of the services of an undertaking for the carriage by road for reward of merchandise in a vehicle”.