Dáil debates

Tuesday, 18 January 2011

4:00 am

Photo of Noel DempseyNoel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

What I did last year was give the local authorities their allocations and more discretion in the way they would spend that funding. I asked them to focus on repair of roads badly damaged during the winter. When I have a finalised report from the local authorities on the recent spell of very bad weather it is my intention to do the same this year to allow maximum discretion in that regard.

I mentioned earlier and also in my answer that the primary responsibility for providing the funding for county and regional roads rests with the local authorities. They should try to ensure in their own budgets that they highlight the importance of local, regional and county roads by allocating extra funding to deal with the difficulties they say they face. Some county councils - not the Deputy's - provide as little as 5% of the cost of the roads and that does not display a huge commitment to the local and regional roads in some counties.

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