Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 2 Jul 1992

Vol. 133 No. 12

Adjournment Matters. - National Roads, Speed Limit.

Mr. Neville

I would like to welcome the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Deputy Wallace, to the House and wish Cork well on Sunday. I hope they play well and I know that Limerick will win.

The issue I raise is the failure of the Minister for the Environment to sanction the introduction of a speed limit of 40 miles per hour at Kilcornan in County Limerick. There is extreme concern, disappointment and indeed anger in the parish of Kilcornan resulting from this decision. It must be reviewed immediately and a speed limit of 40 miles per hour or less introduced at Kilcornan.

For many years the people of Kilcornan have being pressing for the introduction of a speed limit. There is extreme concern with the risk of serious accidents in this village. This is especially the case at the national school, where speeding traffic is endangering the lives of the children. The school is situated at a series of bends on the road. The parents' committee and the school management for several years have requested that a warning light or pedestrian crossing light be placed at the entrance to the school. We are informed that this cannot be done because the road is a national secondary route and there is no 40 mph or less speed limit operating.

The community is extremely concerned that the Department of the Environment have ignored the concern for the safety of the children. We do not want to wait for a fatality to occur for action to be taken in this case. All local representatives in the area are concerned that this be rectified. It is more than five years since county councillors in the Rathkeale area proposed to Limerick County Council that a speed limit of 40 mph be introduced. The Garda Síochána were consulted and were very supportive of the proposal and the formal consent of the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána was received. Limerick County Council gave unanimous approval to the proposal and it was forwarded by Limerick County Council to the Department of the Environment together with a comprehensive list of proposals for the introduction of speed limits in other areas of County Limerick.

It was a surprise and a disappointment that when the Minister on 7 May 1992 considered the list and signed the Road Traffic (Speed Limits) County Borough of Limerick and County Limerick Regulations, 1992 the proposal to include Kilcornan was omitted. This was one of the more important on the list because of the speed of the traffic, the condition of the road and the level of local traffic including the school, shops, church, a lounge bar, a caravan site, a pitch and putt course as well as a substantial number of private dwellings.

If local government and local people have any semblance of autonomy, surely the strongly held views of the people and their public representatives should not be ignored? What is the point in requesting local involvement by the county council if the strongly held views of the council in a matter of local concern such as speed limits is to be disregarded by the Minister? The proposal for a speed limit was done in the interest of safety, especially the safety of the children in the area and to ignore it is anti-democratic. I respectfully ask the Minister for State to reconsider the matter. The views I have expressed are not just being held by me but by all the people of this great parish in County Limerick and their public representatives on all sides.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Wallace)

I would like to thank Senator Neville for the good wishes to Cork next Sunday. As we have already agreed, we will meet after the match and I will commiserate with him and he will celebrate with me when Cork wins.

I am grateful to be provided with this opportunity to explain to Senators my Department's policy with regard to national roads. Senators will be aware that there is a major development programme under way to bring our national roads system into line with other Community countries and substantial capital funds sought from the Exchequer and the European Community Structural Funds are being expended for this purpose. The whole raison d'être of this programme is to put in place a high quality network of national roads to facilitate a fast and efficient transport system which is essential to our economic growth.

I do not think it is necessary for me to instruct Senators on the importance of the national transport system for this country. Probably to a greater extent than any other country in the European Community we depend on transport for the health of our economic life and the road network is a key element in this system. Therefore, its development and maintenance are of the highest national importance. It is my Department's policy, to protect national roads against unwarranted developments of any kind which would tend to reduce their traffic-carrying capacity or their effectiveness as national routes. Any unnecessary reduction in the speed limits below the national limit which is currently 55 miles per hour would reduce a national roads effectiveness.

On the stretch of road in question at Kilcornan, along the N69 between Limerick and Foynes it was proposed by Limerick County Council that a 40 miles per hour limit would apply. While it is the practice to accept proposals for speed limits by local authorities in relation to non-national roads, proposals affecting national roads are examined carefully. For this reason the location was examined by the roads inspector from my Department and I was satisfied, following consideration of this report, that the lower speed limit proposed for this stretch of road was not essential for the purposes of road safety. Low speed limits on stretches of national roads can lead to pressure for development along these stretches, further reducing their traffic-carrying capacity and effectiveness. It was for these reasons, therefore, that I decided not to approve the county council's proposal to apply a 40 mile per hour limit on the national road N69 at Kilcornan.

The Seanad adjourned at 5.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 3 July 1992.