Overdue legislation changes underpinning elements of the Cycle Design Manual may not be in place ahead of the election.
The election date has yet to be confirmed as media speculation continues whether it will be in November 2024 or February 2025. Last week, the Department of Transport confirmed to this website that the legal changes could take until Q1 2025.
As reported by the website in May 2023, the changes are via secondary legislation — a type of written law signed by a Minister without going through the houses of the Oireachtas.
At that time in 2023, a Department of Transport spokesperson said: “Much, but not all, of the changes will require Secondary Legislation and this is being identified at present. Given the extent of change, it is expected to occur in phases. Other significant parallel work is underway at the same time. Given this, the time period could be up to a year.”
The length of time it has taken to enact the legislation has now well surpassed a year and, according to a recent response from the Department, could take close to two years.
Last week, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport said: “Progress is being made in relation to legislation in support of the 2023 Cycle Design Manual.”
It said that this includes changes to the regulations covering traffic signs and parking in May 2024, which “addressed a range of issues including some initial measures in support of the CDM.”
The upcoming change includes the publication of a new edition of the Traffic Signs Manual to include “updates to a range of areas including measures in support of the CDM that are primarily non-regulatory” in Q4 2024 and further regulation changes are planned for sometime between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025 “to cover a range of updates including all outstanding measures in support of the CDM.”
A spokesperson for the Department added: “Work is well underway and advanced in relation to the above with specialist teams in place to address these.”