Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am sure he will be following me all the way to ministerial office at some stage.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. State grants, where applicable, are intended to supplement the funding allocated to the maintenance and improvement of roads by local authorities from their own resources.

In the case of the four Dublin councils, under the arrangement put in place by Government following the introduction of the local property tax, LPT, local authorities are required to fund their main regional and local roads programmes from their own resources, including LPT receipts. While it is possible to seek grant support under the Department's regional and local roads grant programme for strategic projects, this is dependent on available budgets and the outcome of the project appraisal process required under the public spending code.

As regards budgets, the extent of the cutbacks in grant funding during the post-2008 recession meant that grant funding for road improvement schemes had to be curtailed because expenditure on maintenance and renewal was falling well short of what was required to adequately maintain the regional and local road network.  The national development plan, NDP, provides for the gradual build-up of funding for the road network, but funding is not yet at the level needed for the adequate maintenance and renewal of regional and local roads. For this reason, the primary focus for capital investment at present is the maintenance and renewal of the network and implementation of the 12 regional and local road projects identified for development, subject to necessary approvals, in the NDP.

Some limited provision is being made in the capital budget for the appraisal of a pipeline of upgrade projects. This is intended to cover the appraisal of projects for future development, if possible. Last year, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council raised with the Department the possibility of submitting an application for part-funding of the Blackglen Road-Harold's Grange Road scheme under this allocation. The council was proposing at the time to deliver the scheme in two phases. Phase 1 relates to the Blackglen Road and extends from the junction at Lambs Cross to the junction with Ticknock Road. Phase 2 deals with the Harold's Grange Road, extending from the junction with Ticknock Road to the junction with College Road-Grange Road-Kellystown Road. The council indicated that the estimated cost of phase 1 was of the order of €22 million. 

Following on from a meeting with the council, the Department indicated that given its existing funding commitments for strategic road schemes under the NDP, the detailed project appraisal requirements under the public spending code and the scale of and proposed timetable for implementation of this particular scheme, it would not be feasible to consider it for funding under the regional and local roads grant programme.  However, the National Transport Authority, NTA, has allocated funding of just over €2 million under its sustainable transport measures grants as an initial contribution towards the cost of the walking and cycling aspects of the scheme. The NTA is liaising directly with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in respect of this allocation.

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