Road transport load limits
Mattie McGrath warns that proposed height restrictions could obstruct fodder deliveries and asks that the road transport legislation address the risk; the Bill is scheduled for the following year.
I wish to raise two matters with the Tánaiste. One is the road transport Bill, which will deal with the height of loads. The legislation will have a huge impact by restricting high loads, especially in the case of fodder delivery. It will be a problem for Food Harvest 2020. I understand the problem is being examined, so I hope something can be done about it.
My second question concerns 7,500 apprentices who are now being levied with a bill of between €833 and €1,433 for attending colleges, including institutes of technology, while awaiting apprenticeships. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, might be interested in this. I salute the companies who hire them and we are encouraging the creation of jobs all the time. However, these young apprentices are faced with paying an additional fee of between €800 and €1,400 when they are doing modules in institutes of technology through FÁS.
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It is a retrograde step and I am asking for it to be examined.
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It is the protection of employees (temporary agency work) Bill. They need protection. They are young people who want to get trained to return to the workplace.
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The fodder crisis could happen again.