Road Improvement Schemes

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 June 2012

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Questions (607)

Kevin Humphreys

Question:

705 Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to downgrade national primary routes in Dublin within the M50 corridor to regional road status; the general savings or costs that would accrue if a road were downgraded from either national primary or national secondary to regional road status; the implications this would have for local authorities, which currently receive funding for these national primary roads; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29062/12]

Written answers

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (Deputy Leo Varadkar)

Section 10 of the Roads Act 1993 as amended by the Roads Act 2007 provides for the classification of national, regional and local roads. As part of the recently completed 2012 roads classification review, many national roads within the M50 were re-classified to regional road status. This was to reflect their changed role in the overall road network. However, the resultant change in classification does not necessarily imply cost savings with state and public funding still being required for the continuing up keep of the roads concerned.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from local authorities own resources supplemented by State road grants as provided (via the National Roads Authority) by my Department. The overall level of funding available for allocation to road authorities for maintenance and rehabilitation works on public roads is determined as part of the annual budgetary process.