Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 September 2013
1614. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the impact the nationwide review of speed limits will have in a county (details supplied); if he will detail the roads, if any, that will have their speed limit adjusted; if he will outline in tabular form the roads, old speed limit and new speed limits as a result of the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37203/13]
View answerThe Road Traffic Act 2004 established default speed limits that apply to defined categories of roads and which can only be changed by local authorities through the making of special speed limit bye-laws. Section 9 of that Act sets out the range of Special Speed Limits that may be set by such authorities through such bye-laws. Statutory responsibility for setting Special Speed Limits is vested in the Elected Members of county and city councils. To assist in setting these limits, my Department issued Guidelines for the Application of Special Speed Limits to all local authorities in January 2011, and the onus is on local authorities to take them into account in relation to any special speed limits which they set.
As part of a Direction given by the then Minister in January 2011, all local authorities were requested to undertake an assessment of Special Speed Limits in their functional areas. I do not believe that the local authorities sufficiently engaged with this direction and, in 2012, I announced that a review of speed limits would be undertaken.
My Department formed a stakeholder group to progress this Review and the Automobile Association, An Garda Síochána, the Road Safety Authority, the National Roads Authority, representatives of local authorities and the National Transport Authority accepted my invitation to participate in the Working Group. As the Deputy will appreciate, this is an issue which requires detailed consideration. I anticipate that the Group will report to me shortly, and I will give careful consideration to any recommendations contained in their Report.
It is, therefore, premature to speculate on the impact which the Group's recommendations might have on individual counties.
