Mr. Dominic Mullaney:

I thank the Chairman for giving us the opportunity to attend to discuss the Julianstown bypass project. Under the provisions of the relevant roads and road traffic legislation, the maintenance and improvement of regional and local roads, together with traffic management measures, are the statutory responsibilities of each local council. The Department for Transport, Tourism and Sport is responsible for overall roads policy, the provision of technical guidance and, within the budget available to it, grant funding to assist local authorities with their road programmes.

As a result of the cutbacks in funding for roads during the recession, grant funding for road improvement projects under the specific improvement and strategic regional and local road grant schemes had to be curtailed after 2013. This was necessary because expenditure on maintenance and renewal was falling well short of what was required to maintain the regional and local road network adequately.

Under Project Ireland 2040, there have been increases in grant funding for the regional and local road programme particularly in 2018 and 2019. This has allowed the Department to provide local authorities with additional grant support for maintenance and renewal of the network. However, in order to avoid deterioration in the existing condition of the regional and local road network, 4,700 km of regional and local road pavement needs to be maintained and 4,700 km needs to be strengthened every year. This target is not being met at present. The maintenance target this year is 2,400 km and the rehabilitation target is 2,150 km.

Overall, it is estimated on a conservative basis that expenditure of €630 million is needed per annum to keep the regional and local road network in a steady state condition. For this reason, the main focus of grant expenditure on regional and local roads continues to be on maintenance of the network. Project Ireland 2040 makes provision for the implementation of 12 regional and local road improvement projects, subject to necessary approvals, in the period to 2023. Outside of that, some limited provision is being made in the regional and local road capital budget for the appraisal of a pipeline of upgrade projects. This is intended to cover the appraisal of projects for development, if possible, in the later years of the national development plan. The scope for carrying pipeline projects through to development stage is dependent on the future availability of funding.

If a local authority wishes to put forward a future project for consideration, it must comply with the requirements of the public spending code and the Department's capital appraisal framework. The Department issued detailed guidance to local authorities in April 2018 setting out project appraisal requirements.

Under the appraisal process, a preliminary appraisal has to be submitted on each proposed project. Projects costing over €5 million also need a detailed appraisal report if they progress beyond the preliminary appraisal stage. At preliminary appraisal, the local authority application needs to demonstrate sufficient analysis to underpin an assessment of the merits or otherwise of the scheme. Local authorities are required to outline what consideration has been given to investment options, including different transport modes and traffic management options. The preliminary appraisal also encompasses a preliminary multicriteria analysis which is used for comparing options.

Meath County Council has prepared a draft preliminary business case for a bypass of Julianstown. Further liaison is required with the council with a view finalising the council’s preliminary appraisal submission.