Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Murphy more or less covered the issues I was going to raise. I come from a local authority background and the process of introducing by-laws is lengthy. Given the legalities and paperwork, many county managers prefer to pool all the by-laws into one book and, therefore, the proposed speed limits could take a few years to introduce. There will be a rash of applications to reduce the speed limit on housing estates to 20 km/h. Will the legislation fast-track them? Could individual municipal districts legally alter speed limits? Obviously, they will have to consult the Garda.

The legislation will have major implications for the position of speed signs. For example, if a crash occurs, there will be questions about whether it occurred inside or outside the speed limit zone if a sign is moved, and about where one defines the entry to an estate from another controlled speed limit zone. When a motorist enters a village or a town, he or she usually enters a 50 km/h zone but the speed limit will change when he or she enters an estate. There will be a legal quagmire in this regard.