Written Answers Nos. 201-205
201. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount of funding allocated, by local authority, in respect of the community involvement in roadworks schemes and the local improvement schemes for 2013 and 2014; and an estimate of this for 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12255/15]
View answerThe Community Involvement Scheme (CIS) was a pilot scheme which commenced in 2013 and was completed in 2014. It has been decided that there will be no separate allocation under this grant category in 2015. Instead the scheme will revert back to allowing local authorities to set aside 7.5% of their Restoration Improvement (RI) and Restoration Maintenance (RM) grants for CIS schemes if they so wish.
The Local Improvement Scheme remains in place for 2015 however, as in previous years, there is no separate allocation available towards this grant category. Instead local authorities may use up to 15% of their initial Discretionary Grant towards local improvement schemes should they wish to do so. The local contribution for these schemes remains at 20% of the total cost of the project. The same eligibility rules apply for these schemes.
Details of the regional and local road grant payments for 2013 and 2014 to each county council are available in the Dáil library. Details of the regional and local road grant allocations for 2015 to each county council are also available in the Dáil library.
202. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if there are laws or regulations regarding the use of horses and sulkies on public roads; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12256/15]
View answerHorse riders and drivers of horse-drawn vehicles are required to obey the rules of the road, as is the case for all road traffic.
Following concerns raised about unauthorised sulky racing on public roads in particular, I am proposing to address a gap that currently exists in the law regarding racing of horse drawn vehicles in the Road Traffic Bill 2015.
As the law stands, it is an offence to organise an unlicensed race on a public road. However, it is not at present illegal to participate in such a race and many such races do not have a formal organiser.
Under the new proposals, it will be an offence to participate in an unauthorised race. This will apply to any kind of vehicle, including horse drawn vehicles. Such races will in future be permitted only subject to approval by the relevant local authority, in consultation with An Garda Síochána. It will be made an offence to participate in such an event where it has not received prior approval of the Local Authority.
Last month, the Government approved the General Scheme of the Road Traffic Bill 2015. This Bill has since been sent to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for formal drafting, and to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications for pre-legislative scrutiny. It is my intention that the Bill be enacted by the end of the year.
203. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if further consideration will be given to the request by Cavan County Council to have the local improvement scheme re-instated in view of the importance of this particular scheme to rural communities and the need to bring laneways up to an acceptable standard to provide access to persons homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12317/15]
View answerAs outlined to the Deputy in my reply of 5 February 2015 to PQ 5272/15, the Local Improvement Scheme remains in place and it has not been abolished. The purpose of this Scheme is to provide funding for roads and laneways that Councils have not taken in charge; that is, private roads. However, the maintenance and improvement of these is, in the first instance, a matter for the relevant landowner.
At present, local authorities may use up to 15% of their initial Discretionary Grant (€282,972 in the case of Cavan County Council) towards local improvement schemes should they wish to do so. The local contribution for these schemes is 20% of the total cost of the project. Furthermore, it is open to local authorities to supplement the percentage of their Discretionary Grant that they can use for the LIS with their own resources.
Some local authorities want a ring-fenced LIS allocation for private roads while others prefer to put the funding into public roads. My view continues to be that this decision is best made at a local level.
204. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will accede to a request by Cavan County Council for a meeting to discuss the need to provide additional funding for the road works programme for 2015 and to re-instate the local improvement scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12318/15]
View answerWhile I would be willing to meet a deputation, local authorities, including Cavan, were informed of their 2015 Regional and Local Road allocations in February. The Circular informing local authorities of their allocations confirmed that the Local Improvement Scheme remains in place this year (as it was last year) albeit with no separate allocation.
The Circular indicated that local authorities may continue to use up to 15% of their initial Discretionary Grant (€282,972 in the case of Cavan County Council) towards local improvement schemes should they wish to do so. The local contribution for these schemes remains at 20% of the total cost of the project. The same eligibility rules apply for these schemes.
If a separate fund were to be set aside for the Local Improvement Scheme, this would involve making a pro-rata reduction to the other road grants headings, and imposing the scheme on local authorities that would prefer to prioritise public roads.
My view regarding the Local Improvement Scheme is that local authorities, with their community base and local knowledge are best placed to judge the priority of works on private roads. In this way, local authorities may decide whether they want to operate the Local Improvement Scheme in their area or would prefer to put their resources into regional and local public roads.
205. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on all new road signs giving equal prominence to the Irish and English languages; if his Department looked at the feasibility of this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12326/15]
View answerThe primary motivation in relation to the display of text on road traffic signs is to ensure that the information they carry assists in the safe use of the road network and provides clarity for road users so as not to compromise road safety.
The rules governing the design of road traffic signs are set out in my Department's Traffic Signs Manual. The current bi-lingual design for road signs has been in place since 1996.
This had led to a clear set of rules in respect of the design of traffic signs that convey an intuitive understanding of bi-lingual destinations for both residents and visitors alike.
I am aware that my predecessor saw some merit in having a small number of signs, in a format proposed in a report commissioned by Conradh na Gaeilge, erected at a few high profile locations around the country in order to test public perceptions. The Deputy will appreciate that my priority at all times is focused on road safety and before that suggestion might be advanced any further, I would wish to review the position to ensure that any modification to the display of text on our road signs will not compromise road safety in any way.
