Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 July 2024
146. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Transport the cumulative funding provided for local and national roads in Carlow since June 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28432/24]
View answerThe 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. Works on those roads are funded from Councils' own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter for the local authority.
Within the budget available to the Department, State grant funding is allocated on as fair and equitable a basis as possible to ensure that all local authorities are in receipt of funds to maintain the network. The allocation of the three biggest exchequer grant types (restoration maintenance, restoration improvement, and discretionary grants) are based on the length of regional and local roads within a local authority’s area, with additional weighting based on contributing traffic factors in specific areas.
As regards the funding provided to Carlow County Council for regional and local roads since June 2020, a detailed breakdown of funding for each local authority per grant type (of which there are currently 17 types) is outlined in the regional and local road allocations and payments booklets which are available on the Oireachtas Digital Library.
In respect of national roads, as Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the planning and construction of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals.
Full details of the funding provided by TII for national roads in Carlow since 2020 are available in TII’s payments booklet for each year, which are placed in the Oireachtas library.
