Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Guím gach rath ar an Teachta Ó Cuív fosta agus é ag fágáil na Dála.

Tá mé ag ardú na ceiste ó thaobh mo Dháilcheantair agus mo chontae féin i nDún na nGall agus na fadhbanna móra atá ag daoine cead pleanála a fháil mar gheall ar an bóthar N56. Is bóthar náisiúnta é agus tá polasaí ag TII nár chóir go mbeadh cead pleanála tugtha d’aon duine le teach aonair a thógáil atá ag teacht amach ar an bhealach sin. Is fadhb mhór í sin mar téann an bóthar seo ó Bhaile Dhún na nGall fríd go dtí Tamhnach an tSalainn suas go dtí Ard an Rátha agus na Gleannta fríd an Clochán Liath agus isteach go Gaoth Daobhair, thart ar An Craoslach agus amach go Leitir Ceanainn. Is cnámh droma Dhún na nGall é. Tá go leor daoine croíbhriste nach mbeidh a gcuid páiste ábalta tithe a thógáil ar a dtalamh féin ina gcontae féin.

I am raising an issue of importance in national policy in respect of my constituency. It is an issue that we have raised on many occasions down through the years and there is huge frustration in Donegal that this issue is still not dealt with. It is the national policy which restricts the one-off building of homes accessing the N56 national secondary road.

Deputy Byrne may be aware, as Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, that this road stretches right through the heart of the Gaeltacht across a great portion of County Donegal. It stretches from Donegal town, clockwise, right through Letterkenny, and it passes through towns such as Mountcharles, Ardara and Glenties, up through Dungloe, Falcarragh, out to Dunfanaghy and Creeslough, through Kilmacrennan until it reaches Letterkenny again. It is the spine of Donegal.

The policy has caused heartache for those who wish to build on their own family lands, close to the home, close to where they grew up often in small patches of land which people have strived to maintain for years to allow their children to build homes in their own communities. Over the years, they have found it increasingly difficult to do that because of this national policy, which prevents the building of homes that lead onto the N56.

This has resulted in children of people who have contacted me not being able to return home from Australia. In particular, it has resulted in some cases of people who have gone to Australia because they cannot get build in their own county. It has resulted in huge financial issues for others because the land that they have, their family land, is sterilised for the purpose of housing and they have to fork out €50,000, €60,000 or more for a site.

Cuireann sé seo brú fosta ar cheantair Ghaeltachta. Mar a dúirt mé, is é seo an ceantar Gaeltachta is mó sa tír. Téann an bealach seo fríd an cheantar seo agus níl cead ag daoine cead pleanála a fháil fá choinne tithe aonaracha ar an bhealach seo agus cuireann sé sin brú mór ar theaghlaigh atá ag iarraidh clann a thógáil le Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht. Tá ar chuid acu an Ghaeltacht a fhágáil.

As the Minister of State will be aware, the reducing of speed limits across the N56 was announced recently in legislation. All secondary roads will see the speed limits reduced. This potentially has the possibility to open the door for this national policy to be reviewed, especially in light of the impact that it is having in Donegal. Housing being permitted on an appropriate and limited basis on adjacent roads to the N56 should be permitted now. Cars going slower along these roads make them safer and allow appropriate houses to be built on adjacent roads. I am asking the Minister of State to engage with Transport Infrastructure Ireland and ask it to have this policy reviewed considering the impact it is having on Donegal.

The issue of planning stands on its own two feet. This is not an issue of planning. The Donegal County Council planners, in the main, on many of these occasions have no issue with the houses being built there. The roads section of the county look at the braking distance and the vision lines and those are also being satisfied, but there is a blanket policy within TII which basically says that if you are on the N56 or, indeed, if you are coming out onto the N56, you are not getting planning. It is heartbreaking. It needs to stop. It needs to change and I believe the change in policy, in terms of speed limits, gives us that opportunity to do so.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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In September 2023, the Department of Transport published a speed limit review. This review made key recommendations that the default speed limit on national secondary roads should be reduced from 100 km/h to 80 km/h, on local roads from 80 km/h to 60 km/h and on roads in built-up areas from 50 km/h to 30 km/h. These changes were legislated for in the Road Traffic Act 2024, signed into law in April.

The Deputy will recall that national legislation sets default speed limits for different classes of roads but the final decision will be with local authorities, who can leave them at the default or apply different limits through so-called "special speed limit" bye-laws. This is quite right, because it is the local councillors and local authorities who are best placed to assess the characteristics of each road and apply the appropriate limits, in light of safety and traffic management considerations.

Implementing the changes requires local authorities to review the roads in each of the three classes affected and to consider whether the new default or another limit may be appropriate. This is a large task, and therefore the implementation of the changes is being undertaken in phases, with local roads being treated first. The Department has worked closely with the local authorities towards implementation, and has issued new guidelines to assist them.

In light of the complexity of the work, the Department has agreed that the new local default limit, originally intended to come into effect in late November, will now take effect from early February.

Changes to national secondary road speed limits and speed limits on roads in built-up areas will be dealt with after this is completed.

The Deputy has particularly raised the question of developments along national secondary roads. Luann sé ceantair Ghaeltachta go háirithe maidir leis an N56. TII and the local authorities engage on the setting of speed limits on national secondary roads, with TII having the final say. I expect that the Deputy is considering what the relationship would be between new developments and possible speed limits. We can all imagine scenarios where a new development beside a road will lead to significant increase in traffic, and that will impact on the appropriate speed limit. It might well be necessary to reduce a speed limit in cases of a new development, either because it was actually being built or because it was planned. I assure him that in these cases TIl and the local authorities engage closely in ensuring that the proposed speed limit alterations are appropriate. Formal requests for consent for the making of special speed limit by-laws involve a public consultation phase and are processed by TIl on an ongoing basis. Speed limits are designed to be appropriate to current road requirements, including traffic levels, and can be changed if these requirements change. Local authorities can change the speed limits to fit new developments, and speed limits which may currently exist do not act as a barrier to future developments.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit faoin méad atá ráite aige. It does not address the issue. This issue has been going on for nearly 20 years. There are TDs across different political divides who raised this issue with the National Roads Authority before it was subsumed into TII. The authorities are not budging. There is a blanket policy here. I understand the rationale for some of it in terms of road safety but we have planners and road sections of the planning division where they look at braking distance and vision lines and decide whether it is safe and appropriate for a house to be built in that area, allowing for access onto a road. TII takes a completely uncompromising approach, which says if a development is coming onto the N56, which is the spine of Donegal, it is not allowed planning. It is sterilising land right across the area. We have major issues with depopulation. I believe in vibrancy in our rural communities and our Gaeltacht communities. I want to see young people being able to build on their own land. We have a policy at national level that is frustrating that and causing serious damage. I am asking Government to reach out to TII and to say that it needs to review its policy. This blanket, sledge-hammer approach is not fair to the people of Donegal. Of course, road safety has to be at the heart of it. We know in Donegal how many people have lost their lives on the road, without a doubt, but blanket approach to this policy is not acceptable.

Back in July, Donegal County Council submitted a proposal to enable what it described as the continued survival of our rural and Gaeltacht communities to TII, to allow where necessary appropriate and limited access to the N56 in respect of planning permissions. TII is not listening. We do have a change in terms of speed limits but that is a separate issue. What we need is a change in policy, a more appropriate policy in respect of TII. It is not acceptable where the whole west and south of County Donegal is serviced by this main road and proximity to the main road does not allow people to build on their own land. It has to stop. Will the Minister of State intervene with TII today?

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I will certainly pass the comments of the Deputy to the Minister for Transport. The speed limit issue has been dealt with and the local authority and local councillor colleagues of the Deputy can engage with TII. An allocation of almost €30 million was provided to Donegal County Council for national roads in 2024. There are six major projects in the county, including Dungloe to Glenties and Mountcharles to Inver on the N56. There has been a lot of investment in roads in Donegal. We want to make sure those roads are safe. I agree with the Deputy. We need to make sure that people can live in their communities, gur féidir le daoine maireachtáil agus a bheith ina gcónaí sna háiteanna áitiúla agus an deis a thabhairt dóibh é sin a dhéanamh, ag meá thábhacht na sábháilteachta ar na bóithre agus an fáth go bhfuil na bóithre ansin; is é sin gur féidir linn naisc a dhéanamh idir bailte móra agus na bóithre sin a úsáid. Aontaím leis an Teachta gur cheart go mbeadh daoine in ann maireachtáil agus a bheith ina gcónaí ina gceantair féin. Gabhaim buíochas.