As part of the €200m Stimulus Package announced by the Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform in Budget 2014 additional capital funding is being allocated to my Department’s Vote.
I hope that an announcement can be made before the end of the year in relation to a new round of the Sports Capital Programme. The Department has not yet been informed how much money will be in the SCP subhead in 2014 and consequently it is not possible at this stage to give a date for allocations. Minister Ring is due to answer a question on this later in this question session and I will defer to him on this matter.
I understood that an allocation will be directed towards regional and local roads, specifically for road maintenance and repair. This additional investment in 2014, follows on from the €50m Stimulus in 2013 and will offset the significant cut (of €116m) which had been programmed for the Regional and Local Roads funding line for 2014. It is now projected that the overall allocation for this purpose will be €334m (down from €400m in 2013).
It is already acknowledged that there will be no scope for new projects or improvements in 2014 and that while the reduction in funding will be challenging, every effort will be made to make the most of limited resources. My Department’s grants are not - and never were - intended to cover the full maintenance cost of regional and local roads. Local authorities have other revenue sources to assist with the funding of such works.
It is expected that the allocation of the road capital stimulus funding for 2014 will be announced along with the normal regional and local and grant allocations early in the New Year.
