James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the Acting Chairman, Deputy Kennedy, will have an interest in this area. When I was canvassing for the Lisbon treaty I came across two ladies in Swords out for a walk. They informed me that their sister had sadly passed away as a result of an accident at Ward Cross. Ward Cross is a very busy intersection and they told me that 40 fatalities have occurred at that crossroads over the years and hundreds of others have been injured and maimed. As a result they have determined that this matter should no longer go unaddressed. They have been campaigning vigorously and bravely, given the circumstances they find themselves in having suffered such a loss. I commend them on that.

I am aware this matter has been raised at Fingal County Council and the council has addressed the issue in so far as it can do so. It has a plan in place for the introduction of anti-skid surfacing, a new roundabout, signage and road works to ensure better visual aspects to allow people see traffic coming towards them.

The bottom line is that the council needs the funding from central Government and it has not been forthcoming. The application has been made to the Department of Transport under the low cost safety improvement works on regional and local roads for 2010. I hope the Minister, in his reply, will be able to give us an undertaking that the money will be forthcoming and that no more lives will be lost needlessly and tragically at this intersection and that with the improved signage and a roundabout, these terrible tragedies will be a thing of the past.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Dempsey, I wish to thank the Deputy for raising the matter of remedial safety works at Ward Cross, Finglas.

County councils and other major local authorities are responsible for managing and maintaining all regional and local roads in their area. Each year, the Department of Transport assesses the regional and local roads programmes of local authorities and makes grant allocations towards those programmes. The authorities must also commit an appropriate share from their own resources for this purpose, and the road grants we provide are a supplement to those resources.

Fingal County Council has been allocated a total of €5.8 million in regional and local road grants in 2009. While there are no further funds at our disposal from which we could make a special grant allocation to Fingal County Council for remedial safety works at Ward Cross, it is open to the council to fund eligible works at that location from the discretionary improvement grant provided by the Department of Transport or from its own resources. This year, a discretionary improvement grant of €0.215 million has been made to the council. The selection of works to be funded from this grant is a matter for the council.

In May this year, the Department of Transport invited applications from road authorities for funding in 2010 under the low cost safety improvement works scheme of grants. Among the applications submitted by Fingal County Council was a proposal for funding a project at Ward Cross. Fingal County Council may apply to carry out detailed design of their preferred full roundabout project as a low cost measure. It also has the option to apply for specific improvement grant funding in 2010 for the whole scheme at Ward Cross. Alternatively, if a suitable formal application could be submitted, the Department of Transport would be prepared to consider giving approval to the council to proceed with works this year on condition that the scheme would be submitted as a priority in the council's 2010 specific improvements grant list of road grant applications.

All applications received for funding are considered, having regard to compliance with eligibility criteria, the need to prioritise projects, competing demands from other local authorities and the funds available for the scheme in 2010. Pending the undertaking of improvement works at Ward Cross, the Minister for Transport has been advised that the council has increased the amount of signage, implemented rumble strips, put in anti-skid surfacing, reduced the speed limit from 80 km/h to 60 km/h and provided new road markings. The 2010 grant allocations will be announced early in the new year.