Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for affording me the opportunity to address this issue in the House on behalf of the Minister for Transport. The 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 local authorities' own resources supplemented by State road grants paid by the Department of Transport. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.

The Minister for Transport recently announced the 2010 regional and local road grant allocations. A total of €411.4 million is being provided to local authorities this year for the maintenance and improvement of regional and local roads. In deciding on allocations for 2010 the first priority was to ensure the protection of the existing road network and particularly the major Exchequer investment of €6 billion which has been made through the provision of regional and local road grants since 1997. It is important that resources are therefore targeted to address, on a priority basis, the most urgently required repairs resulting from the extensive damage caused by the recent severe weather. Local authorities should carefully reassess their planned road programmes for 2010 having regard to these priorities.

It is understood that Fingal County Council recently applied to the Department of Transport for sanction for loan approval of €20 million for this project. This application is being considered in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The Department of Transport has requested the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to indicate the overall borrowing limits in place for local authorities for 2010 and the proportion that will be available to cover roads-related borrowing by local authorities in 2010. Once this information is available, the Department will review all the loan applications which it has on hand, including the application from Fingal County Council.

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