Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for raising this important subject. He has produced some extremely useful information and I have always said that I am happy to consider anything that is evidence based and bears scrutiny and to refer it to the appropriate people for consideration. I will not dismiss out of hand what he has produced today because it is too serious a subject. It appears to be credible evidence in a certain area. I cannot comment on competing data or interpretations that come forward, nor will I. I will certainly ask those who are responsible for considering it and acting accordingly to take it very seriously and to make decisions taking the Gamma Location Intelligence information into consideration.

First, I must explain that, as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and securing capital funding for the national roads programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, the improvement, upgrading and maintenance of individual roads is a matter for the relevant road authority in respect of local and regional roads or for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TIl, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned, in respect of national roads. In the overall context of Project Ireland 2040, the National Development Plan 2018 to 2027 has been developed by the Government to underpin the successful implementation of the national planning framework. This provides the strategic and financial framework for TIl's national roads programme for the period from 2018 to 2027. In the ten years covered by the plan, over €11 billion will be invested in the overall road network. Following the economic downturn and the subsequent reduction in the availability of Exchequer funding, Project Ireland 2040 now provides for the gradual build up in funding for the roads network, but it will take time to restore funding to the levels needed to maintain the road network in a steady state condition, and allow for investment in new road improvement schemes.

Each year, the safety section of TII carries out a collision analysis of the national road network, in compliance with the EU road infrastructure safety management directive. The purpose of this exercise is to identify locations that have high concentrations of collisions. Notwithstanding this, the absence of sites from the locations identified in the analysis exercise does not preclude a road authority from submitting a feasibility report to TIl for safety improvement works at other locations on the national or secondary road network. For example, there may be additional information available to the road authority or there may be unreported collisions at a location of which TIl is unaware.

TII assesses the current condition and performance of the network, considering aspects such as capacity, traffic volumes, level of service, road pavement condition and condition of structures and safety. For TIl to consider proposals from local authorities, the road authority is required to: carry out an analysis of the collision history at the location; design an appropriate scheme to deal with the safety issues identified; carry out an economic appraisal of the proposal; and to fully cost the scheme and prioritise it with regard to other works being proposed by the road authority. TII implements a programme of minor improvement schemes on the road network. These schemes are aimed at addressing localised safety issues by improving alignment, cross section and capacity issues. While funding is not specifically ring-fenced for the safety schemes programme, the following sums have been allocated for the years 2019 and 2020. In 2019 an allocation of €20 million was provided for the safety programme and it is proposed to allocate a provision of €21.6 million for the 2020 programme. These allocations do not include safety related funding provisions under other capital programmes.

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