Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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552. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the means by which a business will get permission to erect signage on motorways and main roads to advertise their business. [38804/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The erection of authorised advertising structures/signage, other than road traffic signs, requires a licence to be issued by the relevant local authority under section 254 of the Planning & Development Act, 2000 for a structure on, under, over or along a public road.

Under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act, as Minister I am precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to any particular case. This is a function of relevant Local Authority in this instance.

The ‘Spatial Planning and National Roads Guidelines for Planning Authorities’ (DECLG, 2012) state that the control of roadside and adjoining signage and lighting is an important contributor towards achieving enhanced road safety. The guidelines state that planning authorities should use their regulatory and enforcement powers accordingly and avoid the proliferation of roadside that would reduce the effectiveness of signs conveying information about speed restrictions, hazards, directions, etc.

Where a road is under the management of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), such as a motorway or national road, the Local Authority in turn would refer such matter to TII in TII’s capacity as a statutory consultee.

TII has an established strategy with respect to signage on national roads - outlined in TII’s ‘Policy on the Provision of Tourist & Leisure Signage on National Roads’, (National Roads Authority, 2012 - See Part 5 – Advertising and Commercial Signage). Signage in accordance with this policy is erected as an aid to safe and efficient navigation, rather than as a means of advertising or promoting any particular business or premises.

TII also has an established policy for the provision of motorway signage for off-line services in proximity to motorway junctions. The definition of off-line services and the parameters required to qualify for this classification are set out in ‘TII Service Area Policy 2023 (Motorway and Dual Carriageway networks) Draft for Public Consultation.’ (TII, 2023), which is available at the following link - www.tii.ie/media/2colfx0t/tii-msa-policy-2023.pdf.