Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2020
859. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to provide the necessary funding to allow local authorities to reinstate the EU co-funded roads projects. [11025/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to national roads. Under the Roads Acts, 1993-2015, the planning, design and construction of national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. TII and Donegal County Council have suceeded in securing EU funding for the design/planning stages of a number of TEN-T national road projects in County Donegal. However eligibility for such funding is confined to a subset of the national road network and is not available for improvement works on regional and local roads.
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. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter for the Council.
There has been no co-funding available from the EU for regional and local roads since the conclusion of the ERDF-funded Non National Road Measure in the Regional Operational Programmes under the Community Support Framework for 2000-2006. Regional and local road works programmes are now funded from Councils' own resources supplemented by Exchequer road grants. The Department's grants to local authorities reflect the amount of Exchequer funding available.
Details of the regional and local road grant allocations and payments to local authorities are outlined in the regional and local road grant booklets which are available in the Oireachtas Library.
