Vol. 412 No. 1
107 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment if any special allocations have been made to any local authorities heretofore for road or bridge replacement/improvement in respect of roads/bridges other than on national, primary or national secondary routes; if he intends to make similar allocations in 1992; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Primary responsibility for the planning and execution of works on non-national roads, including the provision of the necessary finance, rests with the local authorities concerned. The discretionary grants for non-national roads provided by my Department supplement local resources for such works.
Special grants are occasionally made available to local authorities for projects on non-national roads. However, as I have attempted to maximise the extent to which grants for regional and county roads are provided on a discretionary basis, so as to give local authorities greater control over their use, the funds available for special grants are necessarily limited. In 1991, special grants represent less than £6 million out of a total provision of £240 million for road grants.
Any selection of non-national road projects for special road grants in 1992 will be made in the light of the overall level of road grant provision, the competing demands for this type of project throughout the country, and the need for compliance with the criteria for ERDF assistance under the Operational Programme on Peripherality.
