James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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901. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will review the road speed at a location (details supplied); if he will consider reducing this speed due to the volume of lorries that travel on the road and the residential nature of the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26925/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​The Road Traffic Act 2004 provides that elected members of County and City Councils may make bye-laws setting Special Speed Limits on public roads in their administrative areas.  Any proposed alteration of the existing speed limit applying to the stretch of road in question is a matter for the local authority, which in this case is Kildare County Council.

To assist local authorities in the application of Special Speed Limits, my Department's updated Guidelines for Setting and Managing Speed Limits in Irelandare available on the Department's website at . These Guidelines reiterate that the making of Special Speed Limit bye-laws is a matter for the elected members of local authorities, subject to following Department Guidelines and to the consent of TII in the case of national roads.

At the time of the issuing of these Guidelines, local authorities were requested to review and update all speed limits in their administrative areas in accordance with the Guidelines and this is currently on-going. In the case of national roads, local authorities were requested to undertake this review in conjunction with TII.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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902. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will commission an independent study into the safety of zebra crossings as a potentially efficient and cost-effective measure that could be implemented to assist pedestrians crossing roads, given that some local authorities claim they are unsafe. [26937/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The installation of zebra crossings on regional and local roads is a matter for local authorities, and on national roads, in consultation with Transport Infrastructure Ireland. I am not aware of any concerns raised by individual local authorities regarding the safety of such crossings.

Controlled crossings, such as zebra crossings have an important role to play in urban areas. While guidance on their use is set out in both the Traffic Management Guidelines (TMG) and the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets (DMURS), the legal requirements for zebra crossings are set out in the Traffic Signs Manual.

Zebra crossings are generally used on roads where a speed limit of 50 km/h or lower applies but they can also be considered in certain cases on roads where a speed limit of 60 km/h applies. When used appropriately as set out in the TMG and DMURS guidance documents they can function very effectively and contribute to road safety as well as being cost effective.

My Department does not have any plans to undertake a review of zebra crossings at this time as they have a proven record in many countries and suitable advice on their use in Ireland is set out in the TMG and DMURS documents.