Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 12:

In page 12, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:“Insertion of sections 15B and 15C into Act of 1993

21.The Act of 1993 is amended by inserting after section 15A the following:

“Power of Minister to specify national standards

15B.(1) The Minister may specify national standards in respect of the design, construction or maintenance of public roads.

(2) Any person, road authority or public authority carrying out works involving the design, construction or maintenance of public roads shall comply with the national standards (if any) specified by the Minister under subsection (1).

(3) The Minister may request the Authority to amend any standards specified by it under section 19(1)(e) and the Authority shall comply with any such request.

Power of Minister to request information from road authority

15C.The Minister may request a road authority to furnish him or her with such information as he or she may require i connection with any of the authority’s functions in relation to regional and local roads, under this Act, and the authority shall comply with any such request.”.”.

This amendment proposes the insertion of new sections 15B and 15C in the Roads Act 1993 in order to provide new general powers to the Minister. The new section 15B will confer on the Minister the new power to specify national standards for the design, construction or maintenance of public roads which must be complied with by anyone carrying out such works. It will also empower the Minister to require the NRA to amend any standards specified by it. It is considered desirable to have this provision on a legal basis. The purpose of the new section 15B is to give the Minister power to ensure proper co-ordination with standards and specifications for the design, construction and maintenance of all public roads. The NRA is the body that specifies standards in respect of construction or maintenance work on national roads in accordance with its statutory powers under the Roads Act 1993. Standards in respect of non-national roads are issued by my Department, which has oversight of the regional and local roads programme. The new section 15B will also allow the Minister to have a step-in power, if necessary, in order to ensure consistency in standards across all public roads. This is important in the context of the fact that a number of road authorities are outside the Department's grant allocation system.

The new section 15C states that the Minister may require road authorities to give him or her any information in respect of any of their functions regarding regional or local roads. It is considered desirable to have this provision on a legal basis.