Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle has been given factually incorrect information.

I raise this issue in frustration.

The residents of Kennelsfort Road and the surrounding roads in Palmerstown have been fighting this issue for a long time and in more appropriate assemblies than this one. I am raising this for them because of their extreme frustration. The residents there want a 3.5 tonne weight restriction limit imposed on the above cell group of roads for the following reasons. First, all the roads concerned are residential roads not suited to large heavy vehicles. Some are on a hill, especially Kennelsfort Road, which adds to the noise made by large vehicles. Second, a significant number of trucks come off the R148, which becomes the N4 west of the M50, on to Kennelsfort Road in particular. However, the other roads need to be included in the restriction area, because if it only applied to Kennelsfort Road, truck drivers might use the other roads as an alternative and come in off the area called "The Oval." Third, a 3.5 tonne restriction limit would be in line with the 3.5 tonne restriction limit on Ballyfermot Road, Dublin 10, which is, in reality, a continuation of Kennelsfort Road. The only difference is that Ballyfermot Road is in the Dublin City Council area, as opposed to Kennelsfort Road which is under the domain of South Dublin County Council. Fourth, currently Kennelsfort Road has a 7.5 tonne restriction limit which is widely ignored. A 3.5 tonne restriction limit would respect the residential nature of the area. There is one industrial estate up this road but this can be accessed by non-residential roads, such as off the N4 at Liffey Valley shopping centre, along the Fonthill and Coldcut Roads. There are also industrial estates and a prison between Palmerstown and Clondalkin, which are often accessed from Kennelsfort Road. These can also be accessed from the same Liffey Valley N4 exit.

I am raising this because of the extreme frustration of residents at the failure to make progress. For example, in July 2015, South Dublin County Council overwhelmingly adopted a motion in favour of a 3.5 tonne restriction limit at this point. In spite of that, officialdom stands in the way. Officials in South Dublin County Council show no inclination to be of assistance. In addition, Mr. Kieran Kenny, assistant Garda Commissioner, in a letter to one of the residents on 6 January 2016, stated that the 7.5 tonne restriction limit should remain. Even back as far as 1995, a motion calling for a 3.5 tonne restriction limit was passed by South Dublin County Council. Since that time there have been EU directives on noise and trucks. Can the Minister ensure that those directives are not being broken on Kennelsfort Road and the surrounding cell roads in Palmerstown?

Also, it would seem from a parliamentary question I asked that there are no, or almost no, convictions of truck drivers who break the current 7.5 tonne restriction ban. The roads in question were built in the 1950s and 1960s, before the time when traffic calming was considered necessary. What Palmerstown residents have to put up with would not be inflicted on residents in more modern estates. Can the Minister of State please ask the senior Minister to deal with these issues? Otherwise, the residents will be left in continuous frustration.

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