Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. There have been various Government statements in regard to planning policy and national roads over the past number of years, going back to the Development Control Advice and Guidelines issued in 1982 and the more comprehensive statement in 1985, Policy and Planning Framework for Roads, by the then Department of the Environment. Policy statements made since then have been broadly based on the 1985 document, the most recent being the National Roads Authority's Policy Statement on Development Management and Access to National Roads in May 2006.

While specific responsibility for roads policy now rests with the Minister for Transport and his Department, responsibility for planning policy rests with my Department and it is important there is continued and consistent alignment between these closely linked policies. In this collaborative context, my Department and the Department of Transport have agreed to review the relationship between transport and planning policies and, in particular, the need for both sets of policies to be consistent and complementary.

We are currently working on developing planning guidelines on planning policy and roads which will have statutory effect under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. Led by the two Departments and the NRA, a working group was established to co-ordinate the process, comprising key stakeholders with an urban and rural planning perspective, including representative senior officials from local authorities. The preparation of these guidelines is designed to encourage, in line with international best practice, efficient transport planning which will underpin a shift towards more sustainable forms of travel and transport. They will seek to guide development to the most appropriate locations by ensuring transport and land use planning considerations are taken into account at the development plan stage. Such appropriate and effective alignment plays an important part in protecting the State's investment in national roads and facilitating reasonable development proposals that meet road design and safety criteria and that otherwise accord with proper planning and sustainable development.

The Roads Act 1993 sets out how public roads are classified into national, regional and local roads. National roads are generally arterial routes that cater for strategic and through traffic and carry high traffic volumes at appropriate speeds. National roads are classified as either national primary or national secondary and this classification system operates as an aid to the management of roads consistent with the particular functions appropriate to roads of different classes. The guidelines will have due regard to these classifications.

We expect to publish the guidelines as a public consultation draft in the coming months. I encourage all stakeholders, including Senator Ó Domhnaill who raised the matter and other Members of the Seanad, to examine the draft guidelines when they issue and we would welcome any comments before the two Departments finalise the guidelines later in the year.