Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 April 2025
25. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Transport the budget allocated to the programme for roads and repairs and maintenance specifically including rural roads; in each local electoral area in County Clare in each of the last five years; the amount of the budget that has been spent in each of those years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21449/25]
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 my Department, grant funding is allocated on the basis of grant programmes and not on the basis of the category of road. The allocation of funding across specific roads or across categories of road is primarily a matter for each local authority, having regard to the funding available to it from local and central sources as well as its particular priorities.
The main Regional and Local Road Grant programmes are focussed on specific policy objectives i.e. surface sealing to protect the road surface from water damage, road strengthening based on pavement condition rating to lengthen the life of roads and a Discretionary Grant Scheme which allows for a specified range of activities including winter maintenance. These 3 grant programmes account for most of the grant funding and are allocated taking into account the length of the road network and traffic factors in a particular local authority area. Apart from a requirement that 15% of the road strengthening grant is spent on regional roads, the allocation of funding to different categories of road is entirely a matter for decision by each local authority.
As regards the funding allocated to and drawn down by Clare County Council for the maintenance of regional and local roads in each of the years 2020 to 2024, details of the regional and local road allocations and payments to local authorities are outlined in the regional and local road allocations and payments booklets which are available on the Oireachtas Digital Library.
The 2025 regional and local roads allocations booklet will be uploaded to the Oireachtas Digital Library in the coming weeks. The 2025 allocations by county can be found at www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/319199/4f12c3fa-1687-48aa-8074-abf1c6974953.pdf#page=null.
Decisions regarding the allocation of funding to individual Municipal Districts are a matter for each local authority.
