Vol. 540 No. 1
305 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his views on the public disquiet on the condition of the public road network; the measures that can be taken to address some of the poor quality and unsafe sur faces of public roads; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19161/01]
There has been significant investment in the non-national roads network in recent years. In the current year over £323 million has been provided for non-national roads. This compares with £174.8 million in 1997 – an increase of nearly 85%. The national development plan guarantees that there will be expenditure of £1,900 million at current prices on non-national roads in the 2002-06 period.
Various non-national road grant categories have seen major funding increases in recent years such as the restoration programme and discretionary maintenance and improvement grants to county councils, block grants to urban authorities and the special block grant for footpath and carriageway restoration introduced for urban authorities in 1999. The non-national roads programme has also had to adapt to emerging needs which has resulted in the introduction of new grant categories such as grants to support housing and other development, low cost safety improvement grants and regional traffic management grants for the county boroughs of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
The extent of road openings by telecommunications operators and the damage being caused to the road network is a source of concern, particularly in the Dublin City area. The Government recently approved the drafting of the Communications (Regulation) Bill which proposes, inter alia, to modernise legislation in relation to road openings by telecommunications operators.
Powers available under existing legislation, particularly section 101D of the Road Traffic Act, 1962, are being used by urban road authorities to regulate the opening of roads by utilities. Dublin Corporation is making extensive use of these powers through its "Directions for the Control and Management of Roadworks in Dublin City".
In addition, the Dublin Transportation Office is chairing a new working group whose task is to streamline procedures and draft guidelines on issues related to the provision of underground utilities and related infrastructure. The working group met for the first time on 8 June and is comprised of representatives from the various bodies concerned with network rollout, i.e., Office of the Director of Telecommunications, Department of Public Enterprise, Department of the Environment and Local Government, local authorities, IBEC, Forfás, National Roads Authority and Eircom.
The national roads programme, under the planning and co-ordination of the National Roads Authority, is benefiting from a major investment of £4.7 billion – 1999 prices – over the period 2000 to 2006.
Questions Nos. 306 to 308, inclusive answered with Question No. 90.
