Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2017
599. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will restore the roads budget for county councils back to 2008 levels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39216/17]
View answerFunding for the national, regional and local road network has been reduced significantly across the board since 2008 when funding was €2.3 billion. The funding this year is around €760 million.
The Capital Plan published in September 2015 outlined proposed transport investment priorities to 2022 and was framed by the conclusions reached in my Department's Strategic Investment Framework for Land Transport (SFILT). 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.
As part of work to determine a SFILT, my Department's Economic and Financial Evaluation Unit assessed and estimated the level of expenditure required to maintain the current land transport system in its 'steady state', a key element of which is the national, regional and local road network.
The estimate for regional and local roads is based on industry standards, asset management best practice and conservative cost estimates. It is based on a minimum annual output of providing surface sealing on 5% of the network, road strengthening on 5% of the network and general maintenance and repairs on the totality. The analysis points towards a conservative estimate of €580 million gross per annum (including local authority own expenditure) to keep the regional and local road network in a steady state condition.
For the national road network the steady state analysis includes the cost of pavement works, signs and lines, safety works, bridge works, routine maintenance, small works and costs associated with programme support and network management. The analysis conducted determined that on average the gross steady state requirement for national roads is c. €580 million per annum (using 2015 as the basis).
Based on the existing Capital Plan it is envisaged that ‘steady state’ funding for the national, regional and local road network will be achieved over the lifetime of the plan.
