Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021
240. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Transport the funding that has been allocated by his Department for projects and initiatives in County Tipperary over the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40499/21]
View answerNational Roads
The allocations issued to Tipperary by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) in 2020/2021, as published on their website, are in the table below:
|
|
Improvement |
Maintenance |
Total |
|
2020 |
€5,410,000 |
€852,116 |
€6,262,116 |
|
2021 |
€7,455,000 |
€852,116 |
€8,307,116 |
In 2020, the final expenditure for Tipperary was €9,055,846, an increase of €2.79m on the original allocation, associated with additional improvement allocations.
Active Travel
I announced earlier this year an allocation of €72.8 million to projects in the local authorities outside the Greater Dublin Area and our regional cities. This funding stream constitutes the first ever major Active Travel investment programme for rural Ireland. This overall increase in funding will not only support the construction and improvement of walking and cycling infrastructure but also the deployment of almost 250 Active Travel staff in local authorities around the country. As part of this funding, Tipperary County Council received an allocation of €4,633,000. A full list of projects being funded in Tipperary in 2021 is available here: www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Active-Travel-2021-Allocations-Combined.pdf
Additionally, in April I was delighted to announce a new ‘Additional Outdoor Infrastructure Fund’ of up to €15 million to support local authorities in enhancing outdoor urban space and improving walking and cycling infrastructure. Local authorities were invited to apply under the funding stream for short term measures which will help create safe outdoor urban spaces for the public. The measures will need to be quickly implemented and provide areas in villages, towns, and cities where people can walk, cycle and gather outdoors while practicing social distancing. The funding will allow for changes to traffic management arrangements to facilitate the reallocation of road space to improve facilities and safety for urban pedestrians and cyclists.
The Additional Outdoor Infrastructure Fund is being administered by the National Transport Authority (NTA) as part of its overall national funding programme. The deadline for applications passed on 14th May 2021 and on 26th May 2021 the NTA issued allocations to eligible projects in 30 local authorities totalling almost €13.39m. Tipperary County Council received an allocation of €457,190 under this Fund for 13 projects around the county.
Finally, two schools in Tipperary (Loreto Secondary School, Clonmel and Gaelscoil Chluain Meala) will received funding in the first round of the Safe Routes to School Programme. This Programme aims to create safer walking and cycling routes within communities, alleviate congestion at the school gates and increase the number of students who walk or cycle to school by providing the necessary infrastructure. An Taisce’s Green Schools team are currently liaising with selected schools and the relevant local authorities to decide on the various interventions which will be made at each school, and specific funding amounts will depend on this outcome of this programme phase.
Greenways
Tipperary County Council have € 95,000.01 allocated for 2021 from the €200,000 allocated from the Carbon Tax fund in July 2020 to bring a 1 km section of the Clonmel to Carrick on Suir Greenway / Blueway from Gas House Bridge Clonmel to Suir Island Clonmel through the statutory process stage.
The 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 Councils' own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the Council.
As regards the regional and local road grant funding that has been allocated to Tipperary County Council in 2020 and 2021, details of the regional and local road grant allocations and payments to local authorities are outlined in the regional and local road allocations and payments booklets which are available in the Oireachtas Library. To date in 2021, Tipperary County Council has drawn down €10,677,406 in respect of this funding.
In addition, I recently announced the details of a €17.3 million investment package for climate adaptation works on regional and local roads with a view to making the network more resilient. Tipperary County Council received an allocation of €973,000.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) administers the Electric Small Public Service Vehicles (eSPSV) Grant Scheme on behalf of the Department. The Scheme:
- was significantly expanded in 2021 to accelerate the greening of the SPSV (taxi/hackney) sector, with €15 million funding available for SPSV drivers who switch to electric vehicles (EVs);
- provides significant grant levels (~ €20,000) for those choosing to scrap an older SPSV and replace it with an EV – this is double the standard grant level (€10,000); and
- has received more than 300 applications and nearly 200 provisional offers have been made by the NTA since the beginning of this year.
Under the eSPSV grant scheme, there have been four applications from County Tipperary to date in 2021 and no applications in 2020. Of these four applications, two applications have been paid totalling €40,000. One application is at provisional offer status with a proposed amount of €20,000 and one application has lapsed.
As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure and the operation, maintenance and renewal of the rail network is a matter for Iarnród Éireann in the first instance.
Noting the NTA's and Iarnród Éireann’s responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to both for a direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.
