Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis labhairt ar an ábhar seo sa Teach inniu. I thank the Minister for coming to the House to deal with this issue.

This concerns an issue that has been ongoing for some time. Currently, Cork motorists are subsidising road repairs in other counties throughout Ireland, while our own crumbling network is in crisis because of the depletion of resources for all local authorities and increasing challenges in maintaining the road network. In 2012, some €130 million was collected in road tax in County Cork, between the city and county councils. The moneys collected in road tax are sent straight to the Department every evening at 5 p.m. In return, general purpose grants come from the Department to each of the local authorities. In 2013, my calculation is that a sum total of €53.9 million was returned to Cork through general purpose grants, which was 8.4% of the total. This amount was then shared among Cork County Council, Cork City Council and the nine town councils. They got 8.4% of the general purpose grants, versus the 12.25% they contribute through road tax.

County Cork cannot afford this. We have the largest road network in the country and cannot afford to be subsidising motorists using roads in other counties. It is very different for a county such as Dublin, which has a massive population but a very small road network. It can certainly afford to spread some of the spoils, but we cannot. I plead with the Minister to take up this issue. I thank him for coming into the House to hear me make this plea. I call on the Department to look again at the allocation of the moneys collected and to arrange that moneys collected in County Cork from road tax be sent back to County Cork for the maintenance of roads. The local authorities are failing in the battle to maintain the roads and motorists' frustration has increased year by year. It is at tipping point now and it is high time we made a serious effort to address the issue. We have 10,320 km of local county roads in County Cork.

I support the argument that more money is not always the solution to these problems. The problem must also be addressed by the local authority in the context of choosing what to do with the moneys provided by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, which gave €330 million to local authorities this year to carry out work on road networks. The local authorities still refuse to deal with the issue of water on the roads, but they must address the issue of drainage by whatever means are necessary, even if this means they must bring in private contractors. I have been in contact with the Minister and the Secretary General of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and I hope that they and the Minister here will send some instruction to local authorities to ensure a qualifying clause is included with any future allocations of moneys insisting that drainage works are carried out on roads. The waste of money currently is appalling.

I would appreciate it if the Minister would address the main issue I raise today, namely the unfairness to Cork motorists of having to subsidise motorists in other counties at a time when the largest road network in the country, that of County Cork, at 10,320 km, is crumbling.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline for the House today the importance of motor tax revenue in supporting local government in general and particularly in providing funding in respect of the local and regional road network.

The estimated income to the local government fund in 2014, as set out in the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2014, published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, is €1.71 billion. This includes motor tax receipts of €1.16 billion, which will contribute over two-thirds of the fund's estimated income in 2014. The balance of the fund's income will be made up by local property tax received in 2014 and interest earned from local government fund moneys invested with the National Treasury Management Agency.

A number of factors have an impact on the level of motor tax revenue collected each year. The Non-Use of Motor Vehicles Act 2013, which came into effect on 1 July 2013, introduced new arrangements which only allow for prospective off-road declarations by vehicle owners; these have been fully in force since 1 October 2013. The primary purpose of this legislation is to provide for a system of declaring vehicles off the road in advance for motor tax purposes. This closed a loophole whereby owners could declare retrospectively that a vehicle had not been in use on the public road, which was unverifiable.

Other factors that determine the level of motor tax revenue include the increase in rates announced in the December 2012 budget and the year-on-year reduction in income arising from the private vehicle fleet due to the switch-over from motor tax based on engine capacity to that based on CO2 emissions, given that vehicles taxed under the latter regime carry a lower average annual tax rate. Motor tax income in 2013 was €1.13 billion, compared to an estimated expected level of income of €1.16 billion in 2014. I will consider, in conjunction with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the new provisions for off-road declarations in due course.

In respect of expenditure from the local government fund, an amount of €363.9 million has been allocated to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport from the fund for 2014 for roads and public transport infrastructure. With effect from 1 January 2008, responsibility for regional and local roads was transferred to that Department and it now has responsibility for the allocation of regional and local road grants to local authorities. A further €12.5 million is allocated from the fund to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for management of the national vehicle and driver file.

The local government fund provides general purpose grants to local authorities to support their general operational activities. It is estimated that €281 million will be provided in 2014. I also expect that the fund will provide up to €486.5 million to Irish Water in 2014. This amount will fund the water-related expenditures incurred heretofore by local authorities and met by them from their own resources and general purpose grants.

The total estimated expenditure from the local government fund in 2014 also includes a payment of €600 million to the Central Fund and a further €35 million for other local authority projects including shared services.

Local authorities have statutory responsibility for regional and local roads with funding being substantially met from grant programmes administered by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. However, current overall funding requirements are met from both grants and local authorities' resources. It is a matter for each local authority to determine its spending priorities in the context of its annual budgetary process having regard to both locally identified needs and available resources. The elected members of a local authority have direct responsibility in law for all reserved functions of the authority, including adopting the annual budget, and are democratically accountable for all expenditure by the local authority. Councillors, by reserve function, adopt their annual budgets based on what they see as their local priorities.

The Government continues to be committed to maximising the funding available to local authorities from the local government fund to support the provision of local services to our communities, including the maintenance of the regional and local roads network. The National Roads Authority's primary function is to secure the provision of a safe and efficient network of national roads. I take on board Deputy Jim Daly's message that when people see the money from their area going into the Central Fund the large counties are often expected, in the interest of the common good, to take up some of the financial obligation of small local authorities or areas with small populations. The same argument could be made about the local property tax. That was always the case and it is a difficult matter for the counties involved. It is for Cork County Council to prioritise local roads, the drainage works required to alleviate the storm damage of recent months and the programmes that are available in addition to the allocations to Cork County Council, and ensure personnel are on the roads dealing with the particular drainage problems he identified.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response. There is a saying, "If one always does what one has always done, one always gets what one has always got". We cannot kick the can any further down the road. I have been raising this and other issues regarding roads for three years since I entered this House in March 2011. I have constantly been pushed from Billy to Jack, from Department to Department or local authority. It is time we had a fresh look at how we deal with our roads. There are two fundamental issues. One is the unfairness of the amount of money collected in County Cork. The Minister referred to the larger counties supplementing the smaller ones. That does not wash because the larger counties have larger road networks. Areas with a critical mass of population should subvent more rural areas, and in County Cork we struggle with many areas that are sparsely populated. The size of the county does not mean we can afford to give more money to other counties. I hope the Minister will take that point on board.

We contributed 12.25% of the motor tax and received only 8.4% back in the general purpose grants. The Department has a responsibility when it allocates hundreds of millions of euro to do more than just say it is up to the council to ensure we get value for money. Given that the country is at crisis point financially, Departments must step up to the mark, take responsibility and ensure value for the money they allocate is delivered to the taxpayer. The Department owes that to the taxpayer. As a representative I have a responsibility to the taxpayer to ensure accountability comes from the top down and that the Government is not fudging, kicking the can down the road or passing it from Department to Department and to the local authority.

I plead with the Minister, with his Department and General Secretary, to take a step back from this and examine the two principal issues I raised, namely, the unfairness of the amount of road tax collected in County Cork and the wastage of money. The local authorities are throwing tar into pot holes and repairing roads year on year at enormous cost and spending up to 65% of the money allocated by the Departments on wages. That is not value for money and does not make sense. Somebody somewhere must stand up and be counted for this and ensure the taxpayer gets the value for so money they rightly deserve.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I am surprised the Deputy did not mention the major changes we made in the Local Government Act, which will put a considerable focus on locally elected members and ensure they will have to stand up and be counted and take responsibility for all the budgets they adopt. When local authorities receive block grants from the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport it is a matter for them to see how much money they have at local level to match that and prioritise the important programmes. The Department of Social Protection operates many schemes which could provide a much needed human resource element to this debate. Cork County Council has a considerable number of opportunities and measures available that, perhaps, it is not taking, particularly in the human resource area through programmes such as Gateway and community employment schemes. We could do much more regarding the environment, local roads and dealing with the ongoing drainage issues if we had a little more joined-up thinking by all local authorities on these matters.

"Devolution" is the word I am very anxious to ensure we follow. After the local elections on 23 May it will be up to the councillors elected to Cork County Council to represent the needs of their constituents and ensure they prioritise roads. I will establish a national oversight audit commission to ensure best practice is implemented and to drill down, in specific terms, into the waste of money about which the Deputy spoke in general terms, and ensure it is not the order of the day. I remind the Deputy that there has been a reduction of 25% in the number of people employed by all local authorities and they are expected to do more with less. Such are the difficulties in which we have found ourselves over the last couple of years regarding making ends meet. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will have allocated €517 million on roads through local authorities between the NRA and his Department. It is up to everybody at local level to ensure, operationally, that they get good value for money.