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Road Projects Status

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 July 2017

Wednesday, 12 July 2017

Questions (380)

Eamon Scanlon

Question:

380. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when funding will be made available for the construction of the western distributor road which is needed to provide essential high quality access to a site (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33136/17]

View answer

Written answers

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads (such as the Western Distributor Road) is the statutory responsibility of the relevant local authority (in this case Sligo County Council), in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from the local authority's 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.

Decisions on the transport elements of the Capital Plan 2016-2021 were framed by the conclusions reached in my Department’s Strategic Investment Framework for Land Transport. Based on the findings in that report it is envisaged that maintenance and renewal of the road network will continue to be the main priority over the next period and the bulk of the roads capital budget, approximately €4.4 billion, is earmarked for such essential work with a further €600 million allocated for implementation of the PPP road programme which is already underway. In this context it was not possible to include a range of projects (including the Western Distributor Road) in the Plan given the overall funding envelope available.

As regards the possibility of additional funding within the Plan period, the Capital Plan Review process is underway.  My Department is making a strong case for additional funding, including the development of a project pipeline for road schemes.  The final decisions on allocations are, however, matters for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and Government as a whole. 

Notwithstanding the above, my Department has been facilitating the development of the project for a number of years and has provided an allocation of €100k to Sligo County Council in 2017 to progress the detailed design of the project.

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