1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204 
I MI WttK
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
1 Northern Ireland 0-licence
rules will match rest of UK
By David Harris NORTHERN IRELAND is poised to tighten up its 0-licensing system in order to bring it into line with the rest of the UK.
The Northern Ireland Department of the Environment (DoE) is introducing legislation next month which will place much stricter requirements on Northern Ireland-based hauliers.
At the moment, own-account operators in Northern Ireland do not require an 0-licence at all, while hire-or-reward hauliers can be granted one by meeting conditions that are much less stringent than those faced by hauliers in the remainder of the UK. They do not, for example, have to state the frequency of their safety inspections in the same way as other UK hauliers.
If the proposed changes are approved, then Northern Ireland's 0-licensing system will mirror the rest of the UK's in almost every respect, although there is no intention to appoint a specific NI Traffic Commissioner.
The revised system will be administered directly by the DoE.
Both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have long been criticised for their poor transport standards.
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) told the Northern Ireland DoE last week that the three worst countries for truck safety in Europe were the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Romania.
The proposed changes have been welcomed by m any politicians in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein's environment spokesman, Daithi McKay, says he wants the new law introduced by the summer.
He adds: "Ireland, north and south, has some of the worst transport standards in Europe. New legislation to bring the north up to speed has been on the table since the 1990s. but has never been progressed by ministers."
The FTA's manager for Northern Ireland,Tom Wilson, also welcomed the proposed changes, but he says that the FTA would prefer a Traffic Commissioner to be appointed.