Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 March 2020
1021. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if additional funding will be provided to Cavan and Monaghan county councils for necessary road works due to bad weather and cuts in funding over previous years causing backlogs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2910/20]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from the Council's own resources supplemented by State road grants.
I announced the 2020 Regional and Local Road (RLR) allocations earlier this year and all grant funding available to my Department has now been allocated.
In line with established practice, local authorities are advised by my Department that a contingency provision should be reserved from the overall resources available to each authority for regional and local roads so as to deal with damage caused by severe weather conditions.
In addition, local authorities may carry out repairs from the RLR grants available to them and from their own resources and in this context, it is open to each Council to determine and reprioritise its work programme following severe weather events.
Cavan County Council has received over €15m in regional and local roads allocations for 2020, an increase of 66% when compared with its 2017 allocations. Monaghan County Council has received over €14m in regional and local roads allocations for 2020, an increase of over 88% when compared with its 2017 allocations.
