Minister angry speed limit letter not sent

The Minister for Transport is reportedly furious that a letter he instructed department officials to issue to county councils…

The Minister for Transport is reportedly furious that a letter he instructed department officials to issue to county councils regarding changes to inappropriate speed limits has not yet been sent. David Labanyi reports.

Last week Martin Cullen told Today FM's Last Word of his frustration with the continued failure of county councils to impose appropriate speed limits for roads in their areas and said he had written to them again on this subject.

However, shortly after speaking on radio, it was brought to the Minister's attention that the councils had not received the letter because it had not yet been sent. The instruction urging councils to deal with the issue will be issued by the end of the week.

This will be the second time the Minister has written to county councils asking them to ensure speed limits in their areas are appropriate to the quality of the road, having first done so in February last year.

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The problem of appropriate speed limits has been repeatedly brought to the Department's attention by letters from motorists.

Just 10 days ago Mr Cullen told the Dail of the "ludicrous situation of roads which are clearly unfit for 100 km/h speed limits. It is possible to come off a dual carriageway with a 60 km/h speed limit on to a country road with a limit of 100 km/h."

He said local authorities "have failed to address" this issue and that there "has been sloppiness at local authority level and I have urged councillors to get the managers to get the issue on the agenda and resolve it".

On the radio programme Mr Cullen said: "This is an issue and there is no point in denying it and I have written again to all of the local authorities, all of the managers and the mayors and cathaoirleachs to say, please would you get this item to the top of your agenda to resolve this issue."

Mr Cullen said the speed limits issue frustrated him because "I brought in the legislation (Road Traffic Act 2004) which reduced overall speed limits in the country, some time ago when we moved to metrification.

"Then I gave individual authorities, who know their own roads far more than I do or the officials do sitting in the Department of Transport, specific power to regulate those roads and they should get on with it."

However, the county councils say the legislation is contributing to the delays.

Bill Carey is a councillor with Meath County Council and was chairman of the Association of County and City Councils in 2005, when the Department first wrote to county councils in February 2005 urging them to use the Road Traffic Act 2004 to change inappropriate speed limits.

He said: "The legislative machinery that he has sent down to the local authorities is so complicated that it is taking up to a year for special speed limit bye-laws to get to the council chamber for approval.

"Mr Cullen is forgetting the pages and pages and pages of red tape and bloody bureaucracy that have to be gone through before the speed limit can be changed. And this has to be done for every change.

"It's a bit much for him to be on national radio complaining about councils not getting their act together when he can't even send a letter out," he added.

The problems councils are experiencing with regard to changes to speed limits are expected to be discussed at a meeting of the Association of County and City Councils in Maynooth later today.

It is expected that the Association's executive will write to the Minister after the meeting outlining ongoing issues they face in addressing speed limits under the current legislation.