Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

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 and are supplemented by State road grants paid by my Department. Each year, as Minister for Transport I announce the allocation of grant funds to local authorities. This year, a total of €411 million is being provided to local authorities for the maintenance and improvement of regional and local roads.

Local authorities provided details of exceptional road-related costs that fell outside the normal financial provision for winter maintenance. I took account of this information when deciding on the allocations for 2010. My priority was to protect the significant investment of €6 billion in the regional and local roads network since 1997. I decided to defer the planned rehabilitation works on regional and local roads in 2010 in order to provide greater flexibility to local authorities. I requested that they carefully target resources to address, on a priority basis, the most urgently required repairs resulting from the extensive damage caused by the prolonged severe weather.

The Exchequer grants are a supplement to expenditure by the local authorities. I have repeatedly stressed the importance of local authorities allocating sufficient own resources for the improvement and maintenance of the regional and local roads network. In recent times, I have received representations from a number of local authorities and public representatives seeking an increase in the funding for regional and local roads in their particular areas. However, I must point out that all of those grants have been allocated. In view of the current Exchequer position, no further funds are available from which additional allocations could be made in 2010.

See this speech in context