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

We all do. We all deserve that for safety and the maintenance of vehicle standards and so on. I would argue that the involvement of the Department of Rural and Community Development in this is appropriate. Similar to local authorities, its specific remit is for rural communities in particular. These roads, by definition, tend to be where there might be a small number of houses in rural locations and they are non-public roads. One can argue as to why that is so but they are roads that are not in the charge or responsibility of the local authorities. One of the other reasons the Department of Rural and Community Development is well placed is that it is also involved in the community involvement scheme, which it has been ring-fencing funding for since 2017. My understanding is that this role to permit local community participation in the repair of public local roads has been successful and has been beneficial to local communities. It is also an area where the Department of Rural and Community Development has real expertise.

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