On Deputy Gilmore's amendment and ring-fencing for tertiary roads, as I said on Committee Stage, the amendment proposes to give primacy to tertiary roads in the context of extra revenue generated by the increases in motor tax set out in the Bill. I cannot accept the amendment as it would give statutory priority to a particular class of road. This would set an unwelcome and inflexible precedent. The non-national roads effort is based on a whole network approach which is bringing about quantifiable improvements to the network. I refer the House to section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, which places a legal responsibility on local authorities for the maintenance and construction of regional and local roads in their areas.
I do not believe it would be in the best interests of the road network as a whole to accept an amendment which would give priority to one type of road. That does not mean I do not sympathise with the efforts of Deputy Gilmore. Each Member of the House would take the view that more funding should be provided for tertiary roads, which make up almost 25% of non-national roads. This would be inflexible and it would interfere with the local democratic decision-making process currently operated by local authorities.
As I outlined on Committee Stage, the overall length of non-national roads is almost 87,500 kilometres, just over 20,000 of which are local tertiary roads. I acknowledge that 25% of the overall fund does not go towards these roads. The amendment, if accepted, would give absolute priority to local tertiary roads, which make up 23% of the national road network. The maintenance and improvement of non-national roads in the various areas is a matter for each local authority. Such works are funded from authorities' own resources, supplemented by the State grant from the Department. The initial selection and prioritisation of projects or works to be carried out under the various non-national road grant categories is a matter for local authorities.
The House will be aware that the restoration programme, which has been in place since 1995, aims to restore all regional and local roads which were deficient in 1996. We hope to have the work carried out by the end of 2005. The programme has been undertaken on foot of a multi-annual restoration programme prepared by councils and submitted to the Department. The local authorities are best placed to determine the priority to be accepted under the multi-annual programme.
There was a debate on the issue 12 months ago during the debate on the Motor Tax Bill. At the time, I indicated that a new pavement conditions study on national roads would be carried out under the pavement management system which commenced in 2003. This is just the second such study to be carried out. I believe we will get value for money. It is a question of inviting an independent company to carry out the study and to make recommendations. The purpose of the study is to ascertain the extent of deficiencies in the network. It will examine each class of non-national road, including tertiary roads.
I am not anxious at this time to introduce legislative rigidities or inflexibilities into the funding programme for non-national roads. I assure Deputy Gilmore that local tertiary roads will continue to receive attention into the future. Perhaps the recommendations which will come from the new pavement conditions study will recommend additional funding. We will look carefully at the recommendations. It is coincidental that the results of the study will be available in August 2004. On this side of the House, we are proud of the record allocations provided in recent years. Anyone who looks at this objectively will take the view that there have been vast improvements.
I am not defending the case in regard to tertiary road. On Committee Stage, reference was made to CLÁR funding. While funding is being provided, it does not resolve Deputy Gilmore's problem. I know he is looking at the bigger picture and not just his constituency. We are taking the matter seriously. It will be with the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs who will concentrate on class 2 and tertiary roads. This is an indication of our commitment in CLÁR-funded areas, which is not the whole country. I hope the situation will change as a result of this. I assure Deputy Gilmore that, together with the Minister, I will give the matter my personal attention. It amounts to 23% of the national roads network and it is important to the citizens who live along these roads.
Deputy McCormack raised the question of additional funding. We expect to raise the extra €34 million as a result of the increase of 5%. Every cent of the extra revenue generated by the increase in rates will be spent on non-national roads. The Deputy may have taken the view that all the €34 million will not go into roads. Of course, administration will be involved, but I estimate that practically all the money will be spent on roads. It should not result in any great overheads within local authorities. I will be disappointed if all the money does not go into roads.
On Deputy Morgan's point, the additional funding will be €34 million, which will be totally ring-fenced. It will go into the local government fund and will be spent entirely on the local roads network. This is not just the State grant allocation, there will be additional funding from the local authorities own resources. I made the point on Committee Stage that in future we will be very vigilant with a view to ensuring that local authorities maintain their levels of funding and increase their contributions by way of increases in line with inflation. The overall funding of €477 million provided by the Department is made up of €428 million from the local government fund and €48 million from the Exchequer. We are ahead of our projections on expenditure not just in the BMW region, but throughout the east and south. We are almost 15% ahead of the profile which has been established.
Deputy Gilmore asked about the allocation of €10,637,000 to the city of Waterford and €10,293,000 to the county as against €11.5 million to Dublin city. There was a significant increase in the allocation to Waterford city in 2003 due to an increase in the strategic non-national roads grants in 2004. Allocations for these grants can vary from one year to the next. As far as I am aware some major works in Waterford city were required to be carried out. I refer to the Tramore ring road. There was also the outer ring in Waterford city, which does not qualify for National Road Authority funding as it is a non-national road. It was a job that had to be done. I have no doubt that many other town councils and corporations require this type of funding. That was a job that had to be done and I would not attach any great significance to it.
