Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 May 2016
334. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will ensure that where allocation of road restoration and maintenance moneys are being made to local authorities that a percentage of those moneys are ring-fenced for tertiary council roads in direct proportion to kilometres of these roads as compared to other road classifications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8971/16]
View answerThe 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. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.
The main grant programmes funded by my Department (Restoration Improvement, Restoration Maintenance and Discretionary Grant) are allocated on the basis of the length of the regional and local road network in a local authority area. In view of the fact that national roads and regional roads account for about 45% and 30% of overall road traffic respectively, the main requirement related to the Restoration Improvement and Maintenance Grants is that a minimum of 15% is expended on regional roads. Apart from that local authorities have considerable flexibility in allocating grant funding.
Overall, given funding constraints, I take the view that local authorities are best placed to assess how best to allocate available own resource and road grant funding within their areas. I have been emphasising to local authorities the importance of prioritising expenditure on roads when allocating own resources, including revenue from Local Property Tax receipts.
