Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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91. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will ensure that there is consistency in signage on motorways for tourist attractions for centres (details supplied). [54624/25]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I wish to thank the Deputy for his question,

My Department has recently published the latest Traffic Signs Manual which provides guidance to Local Authorities on the implementation of traffic signage and road markings. The manual stipulates what traffic signs are to be used on Irish roads, their layout and symbols, the circumstances in which each sign should be used and the rules for positioning them.

TII receives many requests for tourist signage on the motorway and national road network throughout the country. These are all dealt with in line with its Policy on the Provision of Tourist & Leisure Signage on National Roads. The Policy identifies tourist attractions as destinations considered for the provision of white-on-brown tourist signage and sets thresholds for the provision of such signage on the national road network.

Tourist signs are erected as an aid to safe and efficient navigation rather than as a means of advertising or promoting any particular business, premises or location. There is also a limit to the number of destinations that may be signed at any particular location. This is particularly the case on the motorway / dual carriageway network which contains some of the busiest sections of national road in the country, where drivers need to be alert at all times to the conditions around them and free in so far as possible from unnecessary distraction.

TII works closely with the Local Authorities and with Fáilte Ireland in the provision of tourist and leisure signage. Furthermore, Fáilte Ireland has a number of requirements that must be satisfied before it will recommend a particular tourist destination for signage off the national road network. These include visitor footfall, certain opening times / hours, provision of adequate parking and toilet facilities and so on. Requests for white-on-brown tourist signs should firstly be pursued through the Local Authority or Fáilte Ireland who will consider the merits of a particular attraction and liaise with TII in due course if they deem signage for this destination appropriate and feasible.