Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Question 73: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will protect the investment made in roads here by committing to fund their repair following the recent weather conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6848/10]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads. The construction, improvement and maintenance of individual national roads is a matter for the National Roads Authority. Approximately €1.115 billion will be spent by the NRA on national roads in 2010 and the allocations to local authorities were recently published.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is a function of road authorities under section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. The selection, prioritisation and carrying out of works on these roads is a matter for the relevant local authority to be funded from its own resources supplemented by State road grants.

When Exchequer grants for regional and local roads are allocated each year, my Department does not hold back a reserve allocation to deal with weather contingencies, as this would mean a reduction in the allocations made to all local authorities at the beginning of each year. The allocations made to local authorities are inclusive of a weather risk factor. They are expressly advised in the annual road grants circular letter that they should set aside contingency sums from their overall regional and local roads resources to finance necessary weather related works.

I have asked local authorities to provide details of exceptional road related costs associated with the recent flooding and prolonged severe weather, which fall outside the normal financial provision for winter maintenance. I will consider this information when deciding on the allocations, which I will announce shortly. A key priority will be to safeguard the considerable investment in the road network over the past ten years and to carefully target resources to address on a prioritised basis the most urgently required repairs.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for the information. Before I address that I want to make the point that I went to a meeting in Foynes-----

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy is on a different question now.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I know, but I just want to make the point. It was totally and utterly distasteful for me as a public representative that I met people who were being paid by the State and who-----

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy cannot read a question in another Deputy's name on Priority Questions.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I know that. They could not answer questions put by me as an elected representative.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy is now using up his time.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I just wanted to make that point. Regarding the roads, I realise the cold weather crisis is over, but the Minister and I are both realists, as well as coming from the same county. We both travel to other counties and the damage to the roads over and above normal as a result of the weather conditions we have had is only now becoming evident. No matter how it is done, in the current circumstances, whether through lack of funding or the bodies working on the ground, it is simply not good enough to say the allocations are in place and this what the local authorities can do.

I know that I am slow in getting to my point, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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It is Question Time.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Let me make my point, please.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I am afraid the Deputy must put a question in Question Time.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I will put a question to the Minister, when I am finished.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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No, the Deputy must put a question now.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Does the Minister agree that we cannot continue to ask our local engineers, whether in Tipperary, Cork or anywhere else, to continue to repair our roads? We are now coming into the busiest part of the year for tourism and agriculture-related business, with people moving out of their houses. The number of staff in the county councils has been cut by nearly a third relative to what they should be. Does the Minister not believe it is time for him, along with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to give the authority to county councils to hire people who are lying idle with their machines for a six-month period to repair all the roads at the one time? I am hoping the Minister will provide the investment because the current arrangements amount to false economy. Without the manpower it cannot be done.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I will be providing almost €412 million to the local authorities for their roads programme. I will also be giving them the flexibility to prioritise the roads that have been damaged. We will not stick to the normal 13 or 14 headings in the funding. Now that the local authorities have identified the roads that are damaged, we will ask them to prioritise and repair them. This could mean other works which might not have been in the pipeline immediately will be done this year. As this money is being allocated, I am asking the councils to address the concerns that have been expressed by Members of the House and their local public representatives to ensure that the roads which were damaged are repaired as quickly as possible. There is no bar on local authorities either outsourcing or hiring contractors to do the work. It must be addressed in the most effective and efficient manner. No doubt, they will have to get value for money during the summer months, in particular, but they will be given maximum flexibility in that regard.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The figures show that the Minister is spending almost €500 million less but the damage involved is enormous. Limerick City and County Councils are facing a bill of €2 million in relation to damages, while the figure for Carlow County Council is €7.5 million. The figure for our county is €2.4 million, while it is €2.5 million for Westmeath. The Minister and other Deputies from County Meath along with those from every other country are aware that the available staff are being curtailed at the moment, regardless of any money the Minister allocates. They cannot do overtime or take on extra help. The Minister must give the go-ahead immediately to allow for the repair of all the roads at once and not curtail what we anticipate will be, hopefully, a better summer at home for our tourism trade.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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They way in which they go about this work is entirely up to the local authorities. The grants we give are to supplement the local authority grants. The local authorities should make the best possible use of the money, whatever that may be. I do not intend to start micro-managing them. There is a need to focus on the damaged roads which must be improved and which are important for economic activity and so on.

Part of the reason why roads money has been reduced during the past couple of years is because of the economic circumstances in which we find ourselves. A lesser national cake means a lesser portion of it for transport. Notwithstanding that, local authorities must look within their resources to prioritise. From the point of view of road safety and economic activity, road services are and should be priorities for the local authorities this year. I call on them to try to ensure they maintain or increase the amount of money available for roads work this year.