European Union (Occupation of Road Transport Operator) Regulations 2011

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 697/2011
• Year: 2011

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 3rd January, 2012.

I, LEO VARADKAR, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) for the purposes of giving full effect to Regulation (EC) No. 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 20091 , hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Occupation of Road Transport Operator) Regulations 2011.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

“EU Regulation” means Regulation (EC) No. 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 20091;

“Minister” means Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport;

“operator” means, as the case may be, the holder of or applicant for an operator’s licence;

“operator’s licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Road Traffic and Transport Act 2006 ;

“specified position” means, where the operator is—

(a) an individual, his or her transport manager,

(b) a company, a director of the company, its secretary or transport manager,

(c) a partnership, a partner or the transport manager of the partnership, or

(d) a cooperative, its secretary, transport manager or any member of its committee of management;

(2) A word or expression in which is used in these Regulations and is also used in the EU Regulation has, unless the contrary is intended, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the EU Regulation.

3. The Minister is the competent authority for the purposes of the EU Regulation.

4. An operator’s licence under the Road Traffic and Transport Act 2006 constitutes an authorisation for engaging in the occupation of road haulage operator or road passenger transport operator, as the case may be, for the purposes of the EU Regulation.

5. An operator and the holder of a specified position shall comply with the requirements of the EU Regulation.

6. In determining whether an operator has satisfied or continues to satisfy the requirement of good repute the Minister may consider whether or not the operator or a person who holds a specified position with the operator has, within, the previous 10 years, been convicted of an offence specified in the Schedule or been convicted of a serious criminal offence or incurred a penalty for a serious infringement of Community rules relating to the matters referred to in part (b) of the third subparagraph of Article 6(1) of the EU Regulation.

7. The operator concerned shall notify the Minister in writing of the fact of any conviction against any person referred to in Regulation 6—

(a) where the operator is making an application for an operator’s licence, at the time of making an application, or

(b) where the operator is the holder of an operator’s licence, within 3 months of the making of these Regulations, of the expiry of the time allowed for appealing such conviction or of the determination or withdrawal of the appeal of such conviction, whichever is the latest.

8. Where a person who holds a specified position with an operator is or has been convicted of an offence referred to in Regulation 6 he or she shall inform the operator in writing of the fact of the conviction.

9. (1) A person who contravenes or fails to comply with these Regulations commits an offence and is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine, or

(b) on conviction of indictment, to a fine not exceeding €250,000.

(2) Proceedings for an offence under this Regulation may be brought and prosecuted summarily by the Minister or the Road Safety Authority of Ireland.

10. A transport officer (within the meaning of section 15(1) (inserted by section 117 of the Dublin Transport...