Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 60: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to deal with major traffic issues which continue in Slane, County Meath, in view of the decision by An Bord Pleanála not to grant planning permission to the by-pass as currently outlined. [16861/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport I have overall responsibility for policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. The planning and design of individual national primary and secondary roads is a statutory function of the National Roads Authority (NRA) under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007. The NRA works closely with the local authorities in whose administrative area the road is to be constructed – in this case Meath County Council.

The Bord refused the scheme on a number of grounds, including that the Bord was not satisfied that the alternatives to the by-pass were properly considered given that the bypass would be near Bru na Boinne – a UNESCO world heritage site. In particular, the Bord did not consider that the issue of a HGV ban in Slane was adequately considered. I have asked the NRA, in conjunction with Meath County Council and the relevant stakeholders, to examine the detail of the Bord decision and how to respond to it. However, it is not a case of selecting a new route at this stage, instead the priority is to address the traffic safety concerns in Slane. Traffic management issues are primarily for Meath County Council to address.

Significant work has been carried out on safety upgrades and traffic calming on the approaches to the bridge and this has contributed to a reduction in traffic accidents.