James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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230. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if the building regulations contain specific requirements for the gradient on footpaths and kerb height, in particular at points of entry to driveways; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25553/17]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The aim of the building regulations is to provide for the safety and welfare of people in and about buildings. The building regulations apply to the design and construction of a new building (including a dwelling) or an extension to an existing building. The minimum performance requirements that a building must achieve are set out in the second schedule to the building regulations. These requirements are set out in 12 parts classified as Parts A to M.

The requirements of Part M, Access and Use, provide that adequate provision shall be made for people to access and use a building, its facilities and environs. The accompanying Technical Guidance Document M (TGD M) provides detailed guidance on how this may be achieved in practice.

TGD M Section 1.1 provides detailed guidance on approach to buildings other than dwellings from the adjacent road or the entrance point at the boundary of the site, and from any designated car-parking spaces for people with disabilities and/or setting down areas. TGD M Section 3.1 provides detailed guidance on approach to dwellings from the entrance at the boundary of a dwelling plot or the point at which a person visiting a dwelling would normally alight from a vehicle within the dwelling plot.

The Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets jointly issued by my Department and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in March 2013 provides guidance for kerb heights and footways in the public realm. However, the required design and construction standards for public roads are a matter for my colleague the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.