Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Topical Issue No. 2 is on weight restrictions at Kennelsfort Road in Clondalkin in Dublin 22. Deputy Robert Dowds will speak for four minutes.

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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First of all, I will correct the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I am talking about Palmerstown, Dublin 20, and not Clondalkin.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I am only reading what is in front of me.

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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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.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I am taking this issue on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe. I understand that Deputy Dowds has been very proactive on this issue for quite some time and I thank him for raising the matter.

I understand that the background to this issue arises from the concerns of local residents living in the immediate area in relation to the use of surrounding residential roads by heavy goods vehicles and their wish to see a 3.5 tonne vehicle weight restriction applied to Kennelsfort Road for traffic management purposes. While I cannot comment on the specifics of any weight restriction currently applying to the Kennelsfort Road, decisions in respect of the application of such weight restrictions are entirely a matter for the relevant local authority. In this instance, and based on the intervention of Deputy Dowds, that would appear to be South Dublin County Council, though my script states it is Dublin City Council. The Minister does not have any role to play in such decisions.

However, should South Dublin County Council decide to apply such a weight restriction on Kennelsfort Road, this would be indicated by the use of the appropriate vehicle weight limit sign. The legislative basis underpinning the erection of such regulatory signage is provided for under road traffic legislation with which all local authorities must comply. Also, further details relating to regulatory vehicle weights signage are set out for local authorities in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport's 2010 traffic signs manual.

The Road Traffic (Signs) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, SI 331 of 2012, and the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2012, SI 332 of 2012, provide the legislative basis for weight restrictions on vehicles entering a road and associated signage. Relevant signage in this regard includes regulatory upright sign RUS 015, which is used in traffic management and road safety issues such as prohibiting heavy vehicles from using residential roads, and RUS 053, which is used in cases of entry restrictions relating to the structural integrity of the road network, including bridges. Sign RUS 015, giving maximum design gross vehicle weight, is used at the entrance of a road and provides that drivers of vehicles whose design gross vehicle weight exceeds the weight specified on the sign are prohibited from proceeding beyond that point except where it is necessary for a vehicle to gain access to, or egress from, premises accessible only from that road. RUS 053 indicates that the driver of a vehicle exceeding the design gross vehicle weight displayed on the sign shall not proceed beyond it. There are no exceptions to this regulation. The entry restrictions associated with traffic signs RUS 015 and RUS 053 apply to all vehicles, including buses, which exceed the design gross vehicle weight specified on either sign. Any decision by a local authority to apply such restrictions would have to take account of whether the road in question is used as part of a bus route.

In conclusion, individual local authorities are best placed to assess the particular local vehicle weight requirements, based on either road safety or traffic management grounds, which should apply to a particular individual road. However, as previously mentioned, if such weight limit controls are applied, local authorities must erect signage that is in full compliance with regulations. The enforcement of road traffic regulations governing vehicle weight limits on any particular public road is a matter for An Garda Síochána.

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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As expected, I am very frustrated by the reply. I only raised this in the House because of the ignoring of democratically made decisions of South Dublin County Council by a combination of the roads department and gardaí. What are the people of this area to do to have their democratically decided issue addressed? I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister to write to the Garda and South Dublin County Council to ask them to re-examine the issue in light of the decisions made by the county council itself with a view to trying to meet the needs of the local community in Palmerstown. Do trucks have to show signage giving their laden weight limit at all times? I would appreciate a written reply to these questions.

I asked a couple of questions in my opening address. One was about EU directives on noise and trucks. Can the Minister assure us that those directives are not being broken on Kennelsfort Road and the surrounding cell roads in Palmerstown?

I really do not know what to say to the residents.

They have had this issue democratically decided on at least two occasions by the local county council, yet they are left with no real change. If there was ever anything to encourage people to get out and march on the street, it is a situation in which a democratic decision is ignored.

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, this is probably the last time I will speak in this Chamber, so I wish to make a couple of comments. First, I thank you and the Ceann Comhairle for your courtesy over the years. I also thank the Dáil staff, who invariably have been kind to me and anybody I brought to the building. I thank the electorate of Dublin Mid-West for electing me and the Labour Party for nominating me. My next comment is somewhat partisan, but I thank the Labour Party and Fine Gael Government for helping to turn this country around. I hope that if it succeeds in being re-elected it will address the issues that still require urgent action, particularly housing and health.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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How do I respond with a negative after that? The Deputy has raised some questions which are on the record of the House. I will endeavour to speak directly to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, about the specific questions posed. I hope officials in the Minister's Department are listening to this and that they will reply directly to the Deputy. However, I assure the Deputy that I will raise this directly with the Minister, who is currently in the Seanad dealing with the Road Traffic Bill.

I acknowledge the great work of Deputy Dowds and the fastidious and meticulous way in which he has always dealt with issues relating to his constituents. We all hope we will be back in the House. Deputy Dowds has made an outstanding contribution to this House and to the Parliamentary Labour Party. We wish him the best on his next path in life, whatever pathway that is.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to add my support to what has been said.

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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The same to you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. You are standing down after a much longer period in the House.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you. I call Deputy McConalogue on the next Topical Issue.