| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2012W—continued
Road Safety
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has held with his ministerial counterpart in the Republic of Ireland regarding the adoption of a north-south approach to road safety to reduce deaths and serious injuries on roads throughout the island of Ireland. [29456]
Angela E. Smith:
Officials from the Department of the Environment and the Department for Regional Development have been liaising closely with counterparts
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2013W
in the Republic of Ireland's Department of Transport (DoT), National Roads Authority (NRA) and National Safety Council (NSC) and, through Cross Border Steering Group meetings, with officials from the Department of the Environment and Local Government, to ensure positive road safety benefits on both sides of the border.
Among the most notable areas of co-operation is the joint production of road safety campaigns that have been a significant feature of the publicity programmes in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in recent years. Joint campaigns increase value for money, production costs can be shared and the partnership approach draws sponsorship at a level that would not otherwise be available. To date there have been eight joint road safety campaigns with a ninth, addressing drink-driving, in preparation.
Work is in hand to develop an agreement between UK and Ireland to allow driving disqualifications to be recognised in both countries regardless of where the offences took place. This will allow the worst offenders, who would otherwise be escaping the rule of law, to be removed from the road. Work is also in hand to allow each administration to recognise the penalties for driving offences at levels below that of disqualification.
There has been a large degree of co-operation on the EuroRAP project. EuroRAP aims to help reduce death and serious injury on Europe's roads by generating consumer information to the public and providing road engineers with benchmarking information.
Roads Service and the NRA are also joint partners in the European (DG TREN) funded project INSTANT, a multimodal project which considers the need for traffic control measures and traffic and travel information on the Belfast to Dublin corridor.
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) fatal and (b) non-fatal road traffic accidents have occurred in each of the last five years on the (i) Knock Dual Carriage Way, (ii) Comber road and (iii) Upper Newtownards road. [28879]
Mr. Woodward: The information requested is not readily accessible in the format specified and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The available figures are contained in the following table and show the number of fatal and non-fatal accidents in East Belfast District Command Unit in each of the last five years.
(18) Non-injury collisions are not included.
Roads (South Antrim)
Dr. McCrea:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on major
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2014W
road schemes in South Antrim constituency; and what the estimated cost of the schemes are for each year between 2005 and 2008. [30673]
Mr. Woodward: The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin to Dr. William McCrea, dated 23 November 2005:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding if he will make a statement on major road schemes in the South Antrim constituency and their estimated cost for each year between 2005 and 2008. I have been asked to reply as these issues fall within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
The recently published Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan and the Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan set out the Department's transport proposals up to 2015. Included within these transport plans are the following major road schemes which lie wholly or partly within the South Antrim Parliamentary Constituency area.
All schemes are subject to the satisfactory completion of the various statutory procedures and the availability of funding through the normal budget process.
This £69.5 million contract will complete a continuous dual carriageway between the western end of the M22 Motorway at Randalstown and the Castledawson roundabout. Planning of the scheme is well advanced and it is anticipated that the statutory orders, i.e. Environmental Statement, Notice of Intention to Make a Direction Order, and Notice of Intention to Make a Vesting Order will be published in late spring 2006. Construction of the £33.4 million Randalstown to Toome section of the dualling, which lies within the South Antrim Parliamentary Constituency area, could start in late 2007/early 2008, with an estimated expenditure that year of approximately £12 million.
This £1.8 million scheme will complete the M2 junction 7, providing full motorway access to the Antrim Area Hospital and on to Antrim town. It is anticipated that the current contract to construct the on-slips to the motorway will commence in Spring 2006. The contract will be carried out as part of the £100 million Public Private Partnership contract, which includes widening of the Ml and Belfast Westlink Corridor. It is expected that £1.6 million will be spent on this scheme during the 2006/2007 financial year and £0.2 million spent during the 2007/2008 financial year.
The £30 million scheme to widen the M2 carriageway to create an additional southbound lane between the Sandyknowes and Greencastle junctions is currently being progressed as part of Roads Service's Design, Build, Finance and Operate Package 1. Construction of these improvements is expected to start in 2008.
I can also advise that Roads Service are currently progressing two further significant, minor works schemes within South Antrim. Work on a new roundabout on the A57 Templepatrick Road/ Station Road/ Longshot, to replace the existing staggered junction, started on 15 August 2005 and is due for completion by the end of December 2005, at a cost £878,000. In addition, a scheme to replace the existing staggered junction with a new roundabout at Doagh Road/Carntall Road/Carnmoney Road North, and to include the provision of a footway on Carntall Road from Doagh Road to 100 Carntall Road, is currently at design stage. Subject to clearing the necessary statutory procedures and the availability of funds at the time, the scheme is programmed to start on site during the 2007/08 financial year at an estimated cost of £500,000.
Rural Development Programme
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when (a) his assessment of the report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers into the last Rural Development Programme and (b) the strategy for the new Rural Development Programme will be published. [29185]
Angela E. Smith: With regards to part (a) , the report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers into the last Rural Development Programme 1994–99, was the Ex-post Evaluation of the Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme 1994–99, published in 2003. The key recommendations within the report were agreed and are being implemented in the current Rural Development Programme 2001–06.
With regard to part (b) the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development plan to publish draft strategy for consultation before the end of 2005.
Soccer Funding
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has given to soccer in each of the last three years in Northern Ireland. [22999]
Mr. Hanson: The following exchequer funding has been given to soccer in each of the last three years by the Sports Council for Northern Ireland (SCNI).
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Soccer | |
| 2002–03 | 1,931,575 |
| 2003–04 | 69,624 |
| 2004–05 | 1,053,092 |
Note:
Includes funding via the Safe Sports Ground Programme.
In addition the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP), Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI), Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM), Department of Social Development (DSD) and Department of Education (DE).
| £ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Soccer | Numerous Sports(19) | |
| 2002–03 | 10,800 | — |
| 2003–04 | 565,041 | 15,000 |
| 2004–05 | 57,618 | 61,227 |
(19) Includes peace II funding to projects involving soccer and other type of sports.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Soccer | |
| 2002–03 | 13,629 |
| 2003–04 | 57,332 |
| 2004–05 | 5,319 |
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2016W
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Soccer | |
| 2002–03 | 18,188.90 |
| 2003–04 | 62,234.20 |
| 2004–05 | 31,277.80 |
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Soccer | |
| 2002–03 | 14,688.66 |
| 2003–04 | 177,039.04 |
| 2004–05 | (20)420,814.60 |
(20) This figure includes a grant for £260,000.00 towards a multi-sports facility where soccer is the main game played on the pitch but it also has a facility available where a variety of other sports can be played.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Soccer | |
| 2002–03 | — |
| 2003–04 | 5,436.25 |
| 2004–05 | 4,311 |
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will detail the amount of funding his Department has given to Gaelic football in each of the last three years in Northern Ireland. [23000]
Mr. Hanson: The following exchequer funding has been given to Gaelic Games, including Gaelic Football in each of the last three years by the Sports Council for Northern Ireland (SCNI).
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Gaelic(21)(5508410022) | |
| 2002–03 | 557,042 |
| 2003–04 | 207,596 |
| 2004–05 | 208,211 |
(21) Includes funding via the Safe Sports Ground Programme.
(22) Gaelic includes Gaelic Football, Hurling and other Gaelic Athletic Association Games.
In addition, the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP), Department of Social Development (DSD) and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), have provided the following funding:
| £ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gaelic | Numerous sports(23) | |
| 2002–03 | — | — |
| 2003–04 | 55,000 | 48,434 |
| 2004–05 | 15,000 | — |
(23) Includes peace II funding to projects involving Gaelic football and other sports.
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2017W
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Gaelic | |
| 2002–03 | — |
| 2003–04 | 998 |
| 2004–05 | 60,885 |
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Gaelic | |
| 2002–03 | 5,594 |
| 2003–04 | — |
| 2004–05 | — |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |