Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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104. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when he envisions a reduced speed limit on national roads being imposed as outlined in the Road Traffic Act 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43717/24]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The Road Traffic Act 2024 makes changes to default speed limits on three classes of road, in line with the Speed Limit Review which my Department published last year. These changes mean that default speed limits for national secondary roads will come down from 100km/h to 80km/h, those for local roads will come down from 80km/h to 60km/h, and those for roads in built-up areas from 50km/h to 30km/h.

The introduction of these changes requires considerable work on the part of the local authorities and others, and as a result my Department has agreed that they should be implemented in stages. The reduction of the local roads speed limit is being undertaken first, to be followed by the other two classes.

A key part of this process is for the local authorities to assess the local road network to determine the appropriate speed limits. While national default speed limits are set in law, the local authorities have the final say on speed limits on each individual road in their areas, and thus may either leave them at the default or apply other speed limits via special speed limit bye-laws. In addition to the need to complete their own reviews, local authorities have also been working to procure the necessary additional signage. Progress is continuing to be made to ensure a timely introduction of the new safer default speed limits.

I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that speeding is one of the main causes of death and serious injury on our roads. Not only does speeding make collisions more likely, it also greatly increases the risk of serious consequences when collisions do occur. We all have a responsibility as road users to drive at a safe speed, and depending on factors such as traffic and weather that could be well below the maximum permitted speed limit on a road.