Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 February 2024
152. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Transport if he will provide his Department’s approved budget figures for the purposes of road maintenance and new road developments infrastructure outlined by individual region totals over the past four years of Government; if he will clarify how regional equity is demonstrated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5918/24]
View answerIn accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, each local authority has statutory responsibility for the improvement and maintenance of their regional and local roads. Works on those roads are funded from local authorities' own resources and are supplemented by State Road grants. Of these grants, the vast majority (approximately 90%) are targeted at the maintenance and renewal of the network with c. 10% of the remaining funding invested in new roads/bridges or for road realignments.
As regards the regional and local road grant funding allocated to each local authority over the past four years, details of the regional and local road grant allocations to local authorities are outlined in the regional and local road allocations booklets which are available in the Oireachtas Library.
Within the available budget, the Department's grant funding for the maintenance of regional and local roads is allocated on as fair and equitable a basis as possible to eligible local authorities. Grants in the main grant categories are allocated based on the length of the road network within a local authority's area of responsibility with some account taken of traffic.
Furthermore, there is a budget for road improvement schemes which are funded under either the Specific Grant Programme (for projects under €5million) or the Strategic Grant Programme (for projects over €5million). ?Any road improvement projects that seek State funding are assessed by the Department on a case-by-case basis. All projects proposed by local authorities for consideration must comply with the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines (formerly the Public Spending Code) and the Department's Transport Appraisal Framework. Given the limited funding available for regional and local road improvement works it is important for local authorities to prioritise projects within their overall area of responsibility with these requirements in mind.
As the statutory road authorities for their areas, it is open to local authorities to prioritise investment towards regional and local roads.
As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the planning, design, construction and maintenance of individual national roads is a matter for TII, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.
Full details of all grant allocations for National Road projects for each year are available from the TII allocations booklets available on TII’s website www.tii.ie/tii-library/reports-accounts/.
