As the Deputy is aware, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads (RLR) is 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 Council's own resources supplemented by State road grants.
Before the post 2008 financial crisis, local authorities could apply on a regular basis for grants for Specific and Strategic Improvement Grants to improve roads. However, the extent of the cutbacks in grant funding during that period meant these grant schemes had to be curtailed after 2013 because expenditure on maintenance and renewal was falling well short of what was required to adequately maintain the regional and local road network.
The main focus of grant funding under the National Development Plan (NDP) continues to be the maintenance and renewal of the regional and local road network with some limited investment in road improvement projects. The NDP makes specific provision for the implementation of 12 RLR road improvement projects subject to necessary planning and project consents. The Sallins By-Pass and the Athy Southern Distributor Road in Kildare are two of these projects.
My Department's records in relation to the Regional and Local Road Grant Programme indicate that no project funding application has been received in relation to an outer or inner relief road in Naas, Co. Kildare.
I understand that in October 2017, Kildare County Council received exchequer grant funding approval of €4,500,000 from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) to support its completion of the Naas Inner Relief Road and that following the rejection of a Part 8 planning application by the Council in 2019, the Council’s Executive has confirmed to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government that this LIHAF project will not now proceed.
