Vol. 558 No. 3
49 Ms McManus asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the reason for the reduction of 27% in his Department's allocation for non-national roads in the Estimates for 2003; the way in which he proposes to ensure the proper maintenance and development of non-national roads, particularly having regard to safety issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23862/02]
Since 1999 the bulk of non-national road grants have been provided from the local government fund. The amount of funding for non-national roads to be made available from the fund in 2003 has not yet been determined. The recently published abridged Estimates volume provided €39.957 million in my Department's Vote for the category of non-national roads to support housing and other development. This grant category is funding 42 schemes in 15 local authorities, which were approved in December 2000. The expected outturn under this grant category in 2002 is €39.948 million. The level of funding available in 2003 will be sufficient to meet the projected needs of these schemes. I intend to announce non-national road allocations to local authorities for 2003, under all grant categories, early next year.
