Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

The Minister of State will be aware that this issue has been bouncing around a number of Departments, so to speak. I am not anticipating the Minister's reply but I hope it would at least flesh out the question I am asking.

Road signs are dealt with by way of an order made by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport under the Road Traffic Acts. The technical specifications are laid out in a detailed way in the traffic signs manual issued to all road authorities.

I raise this matter because there are growing concerns about the disparity, which is of a bilingual nature, in terms of road signs across the country where either the spelling is incorrect or it is not sufficiently highlighted. It is primarily to do with the variations between the various spellings across the country which is confusing.

Interestingly, when the Official Languages Act was introduced in March 2009 the requirement was for all new signage erected after March 2009 to be bilingual, with the Irish version displayed first and to be as legible, prominent and visible as the text in English, but it seems the Minister opted to specifically exclude road signs from the requirements of the Official Languages Act regulations.

On the spelling of placenames on road signs, the traffic signs manual to which I referred requires road authorities to use the officially designated Irish versions of placenames as agreed by the Place Names Commission. In case of doubt they are asked, under the traffic signs manual, to actively seek the advice of that origination.

There are significant mistakes on road signs throughout the country and when those are brought to the attention of Oifig An Coimisinéir Teanga it contacts the individual authorities and asks them to amend them. I understand that, in the main, local authorities are amenable and responsible in that regard.

In terms of the variations and the incorrect signage, the only way to ensure that all such road signs are correct would be to have a once-off national audit and replacement programme, as well as a detailed proofing mechanism, to ensure that incorrect road signs are not erected in future by roads authorities.

I raise this matter because this is a policy issue. I appreciate that it is about the local authorities enforcing what the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has set out in its traffic signs manual but it is patchy at best. It is only when it is brought to its attention that incorrect signs are corrected. That is not good enough, and it is time there was a more co-ordinated approach. I support the view of An Coimisinéir Teanga who stated in a number of his annual reports that a once-off national audit and replacement programme is the only way to address this issue.