Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir as an ábhar tábhachtach seo a chur ag tús an tseisiúin inniu. The Minister for Transport, who is unable to be present, has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts and in line with the national development plan, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TII, in conjunction with local authorities. TII ultimately delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the NDP.

The Government has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national roads projects from 2021 to 2030 as part of the NDP. This funding will enable improved regional accessibility across the country, as well as compact growth, which are key national strategic outcomes. The funding will provide for the development of numerous national road projects, including the completion of projects which are already at construction stage and those close to it, as well as the development of a number of others. A major priority in the NDP, in line with the Department’s investment hierarchy, is to maintain the quality and safety of the existing national road network. The NDP foresees an Exchequer allocation of circa €2.9 billion for the protection and renewal of existing national roads over the ten-year period to 2030, allocated fairly evenly across the decade.

The new motorway service area policy is expected to be published by TII by the end of the year. This policy will update the existing policy, which was published in 2014. A draft of the new policy was released for public consultation in July. An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority were consulted during the preparation of the draft policy and are supportive of the changes outlined. Since the 2014 motorway service area policy was published, there has been a significant increase in service area provision along the motorway network, or adjacent to it. As such, the need for such lay-bys for non-professional drivers has reduced. Furthermore, there are significant safety concerns in relation to the usage of the lay-bys by non-HGV drivers. This is particularly the case where drivers or passengers or both leave their vehicles. HGV drivers however will continue to be permitted to use lay-bys.