Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to answer Questions Nos. 6, 27, 46, 51, 55 and 67 together.

This question is about the maintenance of regional and local roads. The Deputy will appreciate that this is a statutory function of each road authority to be funded from its own resources which are supplemented by State road grants. 

I announced the 2013 regional and local road grant allocations to local authorities last January, totalling €347 million.  I also provided an additional €2.7 million for drainage works in March this year. More recently, on 12 June,  I announced an additional €50 million bringing the overall amount available in 2013 to about €400 million.

My Department and local authorities are working closely to develop more efficient ways of delivering the best outputs possible with the funding available to them.  In this regard, county councils were provided with additional flexibility this year enabling them to transfer funding from their restoration improvement grant to their discretionary grant. In order to focus resources at maintaining existing investment in our road network, from 2014 onward, funding for major improvement works on regional and local roads is being discontinued and with expenditure being directed to the maintenance and repair of roads.

It is also important to reiterate that the role of Exchequer grants for regional and local roads is to supplement local authorities in their spending in this area.  Local authority own resources contributions have been reduced from a high of €405 million in 2008 to €151 million in 2013. In 2008, this represented 40% of all such roads expenditure. In 2013, the contribution of local authorities was 27%. It is therefore vital that local authorities prioritise funding from their own resources to put into works on regional and local roads.

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