I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. With the permission of the House, I should like to share my time with my colleague, Deputy Madeleine Taylor-Quinn.
Adjournment Debate. - Bunratty (Clare) Road Project.
Is that satisfactory? Agreed.
Bunratty village in County Clare is world famous. It is a most important tourist attraction and employs 674 people. It attracts approximately 320,000 visitors annually. There is a heritage blend there which is unique in the mid-west. I am sure the Minister and the Ceann Comhairle have been entertained in Bunratty Castle and in Durty Nelly's. These are very famous places. The Shannon Shamrock Hotel is another famous amenity and there is another well known hostelry nearby. This small village is well endowed.
The by-pass is being completed. The proposal was first taken on board by the then Minister for the Environment, Mr. Boland, because of the growth of traffic and the number of serious accidents which had occurred. Clare County Council pursued the matter with the Department of the Environment. There were difficulties in reaching agreement with land owners but the people in Bunratty village had no objection and encouraged the county council and the Department of the Environment to go ahead with the proposal. It is now near completion. The last contract was signed recently by Clare County Council. It is hoped that two lanes of the by-pass will be operational during the summer, probably in August.
Business people in the area, who include those running fashion, crystal and fine arts outlets, depend to a certain extent — sometimes to the extent of 50 per cent — on passing trade. They thought they would be allowed to put up their own signs after the by-pass was completed. Having formed a Bunratty Village Association, together with Shannon Heritage, they sought professional advice from a company with European links and a French headquarters. That company is Municipal Equipment of Galway. They drew up proposals for two 20-feet pictorial signs at either end of the by-pass and a series of other signs which would conform with the requirements of any environmental impact assessment. They were disappointed when the Department of the Environment told them they could not advertise. They said that tourism signs might be erected but not pictorial signs.
This development has been funded to a large extent by European funds and the norm in France, Germany and Belgium is that pictorial signs are put up on motorways depicting various chateaux. Bunratty Castle is a chateau of European dimensions. Every year 120,000 people visit the folk park. The people in Bunratty have spent enormous sums and there is a possibility of 300 job losses if things go bad when the by-pass is opened.
I thank Deputy Carey for sharing his time on this very important issue. The fundamental problem is that jobs are at risk if the proposed signposting does not go ahead. I would ask the Minister to review the matter in this light because up to 300 jobs could be lost. At present 674 people are employed in Bunratty.
The Bunratty Traders' Association are environmentally conscious and very proud of their heritage. They have a reasonable case in suggesting that the signs they propose to erect are similar to signs used across Europe. Given that this year we hope to move a step closer in terms of European union, it is important to conform with the signs systems used across the Continent. There is a substantial amount of passing trade and it is important that potential customers are not deterred from calling into Bunratty.
I urge the Minister to look at the proposals which have been sent to his Department. In view of the special circumstances and the unique position of Bunratty, I would ask him to reconsider the proposals and to fall into line with what was agreed between Clare County Council and the traders in Bunratty.
I thank the Deputies raising this important issue which, of course, has application on a somewhat wider scale than Bunratty.
I should say, however, at the outset that my Department did not have any formal proposals from Clare County Council and therefore did not, as the Deputy's question suggests, reject any council proposals. What in fact happened was that the Bunratty Traders Association were understandably concerned about the fact that the new road by-passes the castle and complex and they developed signposting proposals they would like to see put in place. The Traders Association proposals were discussed at a meeting between my Department and Clare County Council on 12 March and a scheme of signposting was agreed at that meeting.
I have to say that my primary concerns in this matter are two-fold. Foremost is the question of road safety — put simply, there should not be a proliferation of road signs and road signs should not be a distraction to motorists. Secondly, tourist signs should conform to internationally consistent standards if they are to achieve their primary objective of attracting tourists.
It is the policy of my Department that signposting, in particular signposting on national routes, should be tightly controlled in the interests of road safety and to protect the traffic carrying capacity of such routes. The proposals made to Clare County Council by the Bunratty Traders Association were not in conformity with this policy.
In addition, the tourist attraction signs which the association wished to have erected were also not in conformity with guidelines issued by my Department in September 1988. These guidelines were prepared by a working party comprising representatives of Board Fáilte, the County and City Managers Association and the Department of the Environment, with input from various other bodies. The guidelines recommended a new system of signs for tourist accommodation generally which is consistent with tourist signposting trends in mainland Europe and the United Kingdom involving a standard colour for tourist signs — white on a brown background. The new signs are used to indicate tourist attractions such as places of historic interest and basic tourist facilities, including accommodation. The standard symbols indicate a wide range of facilities, from castles and public gardens to parking areas and craft centres.
The Deputies will appreciate that the best way of attracting people to Bunratty is to provide tourists with signs which they can easily recognise. This was the purpose of the working party.
The question of revoking a decision does not arise. The signposting scheme agreed between the Department and the county council is based on an internationally recognised system which indicates the nature and presence of particular tourist facilities. It also takes account of the need to avoid unnecessary distractions which can create traffic safety hazards on high speed roads such as this.
While I can appreciate that the traders in Bunratty may have some anxieties about possible effects of the new by-pass on visitor numbers, the international reputation of Bunratty as a unique tourist venue is so well established as to make such fears groundless. The series of signs which have been agreed with my Department and Clare County Council are more than adequate to provide the necessary signposting for Bunratty and its attractions.