Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Question 320: To ask the Minister for Transport if there are formal guidelines for local authorities specifying the technical procedures to be followed to evaluate the hazards on a given road in order that the appropriate speed limit can be set; and if there are formal definitions to enable local authorities to decide whether a particular stretch of road is to be considered an urban road or a rural road for the purposes of setting an appropriate speed limit. [39096/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The legislative basis for the application of speed limits on roads generally is set out in the Road Traffic Act 2004. That Act establishes a range of speed limits that apply to particular classes of road on a default basis and also provides the basis for county councils and city councils to apply special speed limits in lieu of the speed limits that apply on a default basis to roads and motorways.

The power to apply special speed limits is given under section 9 of the Act to the elected members of county and city councils acting following consultation with the Garda, the written consent of the National Roads Authority in respect of proposals for national roads and motorways and a public consultation process.

Section 9 of the 2004 Act also provides that the Minister for Transport may issue guidelines to county and city councils in relation to the application of special speed limit by-laws. I issued such guidelines on 18 April 2005 to the county and city managers. A copy of the guidelines is available in the Oireachtas Library and may also be viewed on my Department's website.

Section 10 of the Road Traffic Act 2004 provides that a county or city manager may make a road works speed limit order for the application of a speed limit on any road or part of a road, including a motorway, where road works are being carried out. A road works speed limit order can be applied for any period of not more than 12 months and the minimum speed limit that may be put in place by such an order is 30 km/h.

In addition, Traffic Management Guidelines, jointly published in May 2003 by my Department, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Dublin Transportation Office, set out guidance and advice to local authorities in relation to speed management and traffic calming generally. The deployment of speed-traffic calming measures is a matter for the determination of local authorities. A copy of this publication is also available in the Oireachtas library.