Vol. 565 No. 2
323 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the criteria used to determine the 2003 non-national roads allocations to county councils which gave increases or decreases (details supplied) to county councils over the 2002 figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10471/03]
In determining the annual non-national road grant allocations, the objective is to resource each local authority appropriately in relation to their ongoing and special needs. This process is guided by a range of criteria, including road pavement conditions, traffic volumes, length of road network and suitability, eligibility in relation to EU co-financing and special development needs.
In addition, non-national road grants include a number of grant categories such as: discretionary maintenance and improvement and restoration maintenance grants which are block grants and predominantly mileage based; restoration improvement grants which are based on multiannual restoration programmes submitted by local authorities to the Department; and other categories which are project specific such as EU co-financed specific improvement grants scheme and the grant category non-national roads to support housing and other development.
The last category applies to 15 local authorities. It is the variation in allocations under this category in 2003 compared to 2002 which is largely responsible for the increases and decreases referred to in the question.
This multiplicity of criteria, together with the impact from year to year of projects as they advance from commencement to completion, necessarily entails divergence in the annual levels of allocation between local authorities.
