Comments from the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) have drawn the ire of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA), which said it will "oppose any move" to prohibit the use of tractors on motorways.

The IRHA said that the government must kick tractors off the country’s motorway network, with its president, Ger Hyland, claiming there are “no good reasons to allow tractors” to use motorways.

The IRHA today launched a new campaign which, it claims, highlights "the dangers that tractors and slow-moving vehicles pose to other road users” on the motorway network.

Francie Gorman, the president of the IFA, slammed Hyland's comments and the IRHA campaign.

Gorman said the IFA will "oppose any move to drive tractors off our motorways".

He pointed out that tractors that travel on motorways are equipped for speeds above 50km/h, while those with a lower speed are not allowed travel on motorways.

The IFA president also said that, in most cases, the journey farmers are undertaking is local, so the time spent on the motorway is short, and that many farm holdings are fragmented, so farmers need access to the road network.

"This attempt to ban tractors from our motorways has nothing to do with road safety, as implied by the IRHA," Gorman claimed.

According to the Road Safety Authority (RSA), no vehicle - can enter a motorway if it cannot reach and maintain a speed of 50km/h.

The IHRA claimed that tractors on motorways "cause a build-up of traffic behind them on the motorway, with people pulling into other lanes at the last minute to avoid the slow-moving tractor".

“Tractors are a regular sight on our motorways during the summer months, sometimes pulling trailers of hay and silage bales or pulling slurry spreaders or other heavy machinery," its president said.

“A family in a car driving in heavy fog on the motorway at 120km/h could come across this tractor and have very little time to react. This is presenting a clear and present danger to other road users and is a serious tragedy waiting to happen," Ger Hyland claimed.