Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for Transport the date on which guidelines were circulated to each local authority regarding the erection of special speed limit signs outside schools; the details of such guidelines; when he intends formally to brief local authorities on such guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2313/05]

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 128: To ask the Minister for Transport the date on which the design of the special speed limit signs outside schools was circulated to each local authority; the details of the specifications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2314/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 127 and 128 together.

The relevant provisions of the Road Traffic Act 2004 that establish a new system of speed limits based on metric values were commenced on 20 January. The changeover process involved the provision of more than 58,000 traffic signs depicting the application of speed limits across the country. County and city councils played a central role in the planning and delivery of that demanding programme.

The new traffic signs that were provided prior to 20 January indicate the locations at which the default speed limits provided for in the 2004 Act apply, or the locations at which special speed limits apply in lieu of the default speed limits. The default speed limits are 120, 100, 80 and 50 kph. Since the enactment of the Road Traffic Act 1994, elected members of county and city councils have had the power to make by-laws applying special speed limits on roads within their administrative areas. Under the 2004 Act, all by-laws made by county or city councils under the 1994 Act applying special speed limits continue in force and the special speed limits are converted to metric values.

Section 9 of the 2004 Act sets out a new process for the making of speed limit by-laws by the elected members of county and city councils. The range of options available to county and city councils regarding the deployment of special speed limits has been expanded under the 2004 Act. It also provides that the Minister for Transport may issue guidelines relating to the making of special speed limit by-laws.

With the commencement of the provisions in the Road Traffic Act 2004 relating to speed limits generally, which came into effect on 20 January 2005, and the completion of the programme for the provision of the traffic signs necessary to support the actual changeover, county and city councils are now free to embark on the process of making new special speed limit by-laws. In support of this process, draft guidelines to assist the local authorities are being finalised and have recently been forwarded to representatives of the County and City Managers Association, the National Roads Authority, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Garda Síochána for their views. The Department will shortly commence a consultation process with county and city councils on the draft guidelines. That process will be completed in the coming weeks and I will then issue the statutory guidelines to the local authorities on a formal basis.

The Road Traffic (Speed Limit-Traffic Signs) Regulations 2005 — SI 10 of 2005 — provide the statutory basis for the use of the traffic signs erected as part of the metrication process. These regulations, by providing for a greater degree of flexibility for the use of speed limit signs than was the case heretofore, seek to address the options available to county and city councils. A copy of the regulations is available in the Oireachtas Library. Additional signage requirements may be identified in the future and such needs will be addressed as they arise.