Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
238. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Transport his plans to deal with the current condition of tertiary roads in County Galway; if funding will be increased to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16046/22]
View answerThe improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority and Exchequer funding is intended to supplement local authorities’ own resources.
The major cuts to funding for regional and local roads during the post 2008 recession resulted in the build-up of a substantial backlog of works across the country. The estimated cost of the backlog is in excess of €5 billion.
Because of the pressures on the regional and local road network, approximately 90% of available Exchequer grant assistance to local authorities for regional and local roads is being directed to maintenance and renewal works rather than for new roads or for road realignments.
In this context there has been significant increases in Exchequer grants for regional and local roads particularly in recent years. The 2022 regional and local road grants were notified to local authorities on the 15th February and Galway County Council has been allocated a total of €37.6 million this year which compares to an allocation of €19.6 million in 2017. All regional and local road grant monies for 2022 have been fully allocated.
The Department's grant funding for the maintenance of regional and local roads is allocated to local authorities on a pro-rata basis, determined mainly by the length of the regional and local road network in a local authority functional area. The Department appreciates that, within the overall parameters set for the grant programme, local authorities might need to target funding at particular problem areas and there is sufficient flexibility in the structure of the grant programme to allow for this. It is also open to each local authority to allocate its own resources to priority areas.
