Departmental Budgets

Wednesday, 20 May 2020

Questions (1049)

Darren O'Rourke

Question:

1049. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount his Department allocated for spending on road, cycling and rail infrastructure in addition to public transport in each of the years 2017 to 2020, in tabular form; the breakdown of this spending for 2020 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6739/20]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (Shane Ross)

The information requested by the Deputy is currently being collated by my officials and will be forwarded to the Deputy within 10 working days.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51

I refer to the above PQ "To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport the amount his Department allocated for spending on road, cycling and rail infrastructure in addition to public transport in each of the years 2017 to 2020, in tabular form; the breakdown of this spending for 2020 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter.”

Please see below table setting out the information as requested:

Year	Public Transport (except heavy rail) - €m	National Roads - €m	Regional & Local Roads - €m	Walking & Cycling** - €m	Rail infrastructure - €m
2017	184.000	460.038	321.296	0*	170.000
2018	195.000	492.050	416.803	3.000	201.000
2019	211.650	576.686	483.366	15.000	252.500
2020	288.900	674.041	525.166	76.600	341.500

*Walking and Cycling in 2017 was part of the Public Transport total.

**Walking & Cycling: These figures relate to walking and cycling (and include both active travel and greenways infrastructure) as due to the nature of programme / project delivery it is not possible to isolate specific expenditure on just cycling infrastructure over the period.

The breakdown of spending to date in 2020 is as follows:

Public Transport - €m	National Roads - €m	Regional & National Roads - €m	Walking & Cycling*** - €m	Rail infrastructure - €m
48.5	142.4	59.2	2.3	115.3

***Walking & Cycling: These figures relate to walking and cycling (and include both active travel and greenways infrastructure) as due to the nature of programme / project delivery it is not possible to isolate specific expenditure on just cycling infrastructure over the period.

Project Ireland 2040, through the National Development Plan 2018 – 2027, provides funding of over €8.6 billion for Sustainable Mobility projects and programmes, including MetroLink; BusConnects; DART Expansion; light rail investment; sustainable urban transport measures and cycling and walking.

A new Infrastructure Manager Multi-Annual Contract (IMMAC) was signed in February 2020 and provides over €1 billion to Irish Rail for the maintenance, renewal and improvement of the rail network, a 40% increase in funding as compared to the last 5 year contract.

Most of the Regional and Local road budget is spent on maintenance and renewal which is essential to ensuring that the road network can continue to cater for all road users including pedestrians, cyclists, cars, buses and trucks. In addition the 12 road improvement schemes being implemented under the National Development Plan include provision for footways and cycleways.