I will shortly be making grant allocations to local authorities for 2015 in respect of regional and local roads. The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is of course 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 local authorities' own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority. It is a matter for local authorities to manage coastal protection works including those affecting coastal roads, in line with resources and in conjunction with national policy by the OPW.
My Department provides funding to Iarnród Éireann for the maintenance and renewal of rail infrastructure under the Infrastructure Manager Multi-Annual Contract (IMMAC). A total of €116m has been allocated for 2015 and it is a matter for Iarnród Éireann to prioritise the funding allocations, depending on a range of risk factors such, as inter alia, the type of asset, the condition of the asset, usage of the asset, or the location of the asset.
In 2014, my Department was retrospectively allocated €16.2m for local authorities to assist in the repair of damaged regional and local roads following the storms of 13 December 2013 - 6 January 2014. A total of €7m in retrospective funding was allocated last year to Iarnród Éireann for the damages arising in the same period.
Apart from carry over of €2.1 million into 2015 (from the €16.2 million referred to above) no further commitments have been given to my Department for funding to protect against the effects of severe weather or in respect of coastal infrastructure.
