madam president first of all i want to thank the rapporteur mrs bauer for her hard work
the core issue we are dealing with here in this report is whether to include or exclude self-employed drivers from the working time directive
it is crucial to remember that all drivers employed or self-employed come under the two thousand and six driving time regulations which regulate their driving time their break times and their rest periods
therefore road safety matters are dealt with adequately under that directive and if anybody believes that they are not then we need to look at the driving time directive
there is no data relating accidents to the working time of professional drivers and no data distinguishing between employed and self-employed drivers
therefore we have no data on a decision to include self-employed drivers
legislation must be based on sound reliable data and all the scaremongering about self-employed drivers working eighty-six hours per week and causing accidents is just that it is scaremongering and is not based on any reliable data
this legislation if it includes self-employed will be virtually unenforceable
are we to have an army of inspectors looking over the shoulders of self-employed workers to see if they are performing general administrative duties or administration relating to the job under way
according to the legislation working time includes when a self-employed person is at their work station
this is defined in the legislation as the main place of business of the undertaking together with its various subsidiary places of business
will the office located in the small bedroom or the attic of the self-employed driver's home be defined as his work station and who will police and enforce the legislation
yes there are issues relating to competition for self-employed but this legislation will not deal with those matters
in fact in my own country we deal very effectively with this matter through the tax system
finally if we reject the commission proposal we will end up with bad law
it is disproportionate and will not achieve its aims and it will pile further red tape and bureaucracy on already struggling smes in most countries and particularly in my own country ireland
it is unenforceable and that makes an ass of the law
