Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 51: To ask the Minister for Transport the legal speed limit on the Fermoy to Watergrasshill road; if he has contacted local authorities around Ireland to identify discrepancies between local authority determined speed limits and his Department issued motorway orders on speed limits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9619/08]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Road Traffic Act 2004 the default speed limit on a rural national road is 100km/h and the default speed limit on a rural regional & local road is 80km/h. A county council or a city council can intervene through the making of special speed limit bye-laws to apply a higher or lower speed limit value in lieu of the default speed limit.

When a new national road by-pass or motorway road opens, the former national road that is now by-passed automatically reverts to the status of local road and the default speed limit of 80km/h applies. No order is required to remove the former national road ('N' route) status or to apply local road status.

If the road authority wishes to have that local road classified as a regional road (and assigned an 'R' route number) they must submit a proposal to my Department seeking to have that route re-classified through the making of a regional road classification order.

A single default speed limit of 80km/h applies to regional & local roads so classification as a regional road from being a local road does not affect the default speed limit.

Local authorities have been written to over recent years in relation to the need to ensure that the speed limits that are posted on the public roads have a valid legal basis.