Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

The Minister for Transport was Minister for the Environment and Local Government in 1999 when I was first elected to local government. I heard great pronouncements about local government reforms and, to his credit, some took place. However, one of the key factors affecting the reform of local government autonomy is funding and, post rates, the major source of finance has been the local government fund; revenue that is supposed to come from drivers' licences and motor tax to be repatriated to local authorities.

In the intervening years, while the Minister took charge in other Departments, decentralisation was announced, certain services, including the health service, were re-centralised and the NRA was established. The latter has shifted more money and responsibility from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and represents a two-step procedure to move all non-national roads into the remit of the National Roads Authority and from the remit of local authorities. It is very unclear where funding for local government will come from. Will the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government provide it from the local government fund or will we establish a new fund from the Department of Transport?

The Department of Transport is already responsible for the national development plan and seems to be behind time and over budget on every project. If this is to be the new framework it is hard to be confident. The NRA chief executive has already acknowledged he will seek another €500 million from the Government, bringing his budget to €2.1 billion, to spend on roads projects in the national development plan. Will the projects in the national development plan that seem to take precedence over all else be topped up from local government, non-national road funding as established?

The port tunnel went over budget and completion of the N11 in Wicklow was delayed. People can say the delay was caused by many factors but one reason was that money for it was transferred. There are still ten miles of very dangerous roads. They are unfinished and no commitment has been made to address the issue until after 2010. Primary regional roads were funded as a priority in the context of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government's overview of non-national roads. If this responsibility no longer lies with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, it seems all responsibility for the roads fund has left that Department and therefore local government representatives and officials will have no say in these matters. The key to this issue is funding. If local authorities do not have funding they will not be autonomous and will not be able to spend money on their roads.

We are in the dark on this matter. This is allegedly a technical transfer that is at the behest of the Department of Transport, but it seems there is more devil in the detail than is evident at the moment.

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