Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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38. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider projects at Clarke's Hill and Coach Hill, Rochestown, County Cork, for inclusion in the next round of grants under the specific improvement scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22245/16]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The question I raise relates to the specific improvement scheme under the Department and whether funding will be made available in the next round of the specific improvement scheme for two road projects in Rochestown, County Cork, one is Clarke’s Hill and the other is Coach Hill. Perhaps the Minister could first respond on the scheme generally and whether funding will be provided for the reinstatement of the scheme which fell victim to the economic crisis and the downturn.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is a statutory function of local authorities in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on such roads are a matter for the relevant local authority to be funded from its own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of projects to be funded from these moneys is a matter for each local authority. Under the strategic grant scheme introduced in 2000 to facilitate housing and other development my Department did provide grant assistance to Cork County Council in relation to road improvements at Clarke's Hill. This grant commitment concluded in 2015. Given the cutbacks in State funding for regional and local roads since the financial crisis, it has been necessary to curtail the grant programme for major new regional and local road schemes and for major realignment schemes in order to protect the funding available for the maintenance of the existing network. In this context my Department is not operating an annual application process under these schemes and does not have applications in relation to projects at Clarke's Hill or Coach Hill in Cork.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, together with the Minister for housing, planning, community and local government, has announced the establishment of a local infrastructure housing activation fund of €150 million, to be matched by €50 million in local authority funding, to relieve critical access and support infrastructural blockages and enable the delivery of large-scale housing on key development sites, with the potential to open up lands and deliver a significant level of new housing in Dublin and other urban areas. Once details of the arrangements relating to the fund are finalised and a call for proposals issues later this year, it is open to local authorities, including Cork County Council, to consider submitting a bid proposal to access such funding for suitable projects.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I would not expect the Minister to be aware of the location and the specifics of the scheme concerned but the Clarke’s Hill road improvement scheme was partially completed, which included a longer stretch of road around Garryduff, Moneygourney, Rochestown and Douglas. Clarke’s Hill itself was not completed and is the final remaining section of that road improvement scheme. I accept that the local authority must supplement its own internal funding with funding from the Department but the question is whether there will be a specific improvement scheme going forward.

The Minister said the Department was not operating an annual grant scheme. Are allocations therefore made on an ad hocand case-by-case basis? The infrastructure fund to which the Minister referred is not relevant in this case: this is not about opening up development land. The roads are already serving densely populated residential areas in Rochestown and the road infrastructure on the two roads to which I refer is woefully inadequate. Perhaps the Minister could give an indication of how the Department expects councils to complete schemes such as the one to which I refer if there is not an annual application process under what was regarded as the specific road improvement scheme.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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First, I will outline my understanding of the scheme. Grant funding was provided under the scheme for road improvement works on the Clarke’s Hill-Moneygourney Road. Funding totalling approximately €3 million was provided between 2001 and 2005 and the works were undertaken in phases, with the most recent phase covering a section from Foxwood, where the previous contract ended, and Maryborough Hill, including construction of a roundabout on the main alignment of the junction of Fort Hill and the Borough. It is understood that further works will be required to complete the road upgrade in the area.

However, the extent of the cutbacks in grant funding meant that the position regarding these grant categories had to be reviewed in 2013. Because of the cuts, expenditure on maintenance renewal was falling well short of what was required to adequately maintain the regional and local road network. For this reason, the then Minister informed the Government in February 2013 that, given the impact of the expenditure cuts on maintenance and renewal of roads, the decision had to be made to prioritise the protection of the existing network and to curtail road improvement grants with effect from 2014. In this context the Minister indicated that while the effects of under-funding in maintenance might not show up for a period of years, they eventually do, and at that stage roads can deteriorate quite rapidly and can be very expensive to repair.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The point is that the Clarke's Hill scheme is an incomplete project. I understand that this funding stream was frozen as part of the economic crisis. The question is whether an application by the council for funding under this scheme can be considered if the scheme no longer exists. Does it exist? Perhaps the Minister could clarify that. The second project to which I refer, Coach Hill, is separate but it dovetails with the Clarke's Hill road scheme in that they meet up at a particular junction. No work was done on Coach Hill, but the Clarke's Hill project did receive State funding, which was badly needed. It is a fabulous scheme where the work has been completed, but it is incomplete. If the Minister could signal even that an application by the local authority, which is Cork County Council in this case, could be considered by the Department for the 2017 allocation, then I could advise it of such and it could make plans accordingly.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I hope I can help the Deputy in this matter. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, together with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, has announced the establishment, as referred to by the Deputy, of the local infrastructure housing activation fund of €150 million, to be matched by €50 million in local authority funding to relieve critical access and supporting infrastructural blockages and enable the delivery of large-scale housing on key development sites, with the potential to open up lands and deliver a significant level of new housing in Dublin and other urban areas. Once details of the arrangements relating to the fund are finalised and a call for proposals issues later this year, it is open to local authorities, including Cork County Council, to consider submitting a bid proposal to access such funding for suitable projects.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The next question is in the name of Deputy Boyd Barrett. I see him looking around frantically. Has he lost his phone?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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No. It was my pen.

Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Question No. 39 is next.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is somebody else's turn.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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My deepest apologies; it is. Deputy Munster is next, then Deputy Boyd Barrett.

Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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On a point of order, could the Acting Chairman include Question No. 53 with Question No. 39? It is a similar question.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Are we taking them separately?

Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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They should be grouped.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Question No. 39 or Question No. 53?

Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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It is a similar question-----

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I think grouping is gone, is it not?

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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If it is, it is only in the last few days.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is up to the Minister to group them.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I will not group them. If the Deputy has an issue with it, he should go to the Ceann Comhairle. I will stick to what I am supposed to do.

Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Acting Chairman encouraging repetition?

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I will proceed and let everybody's question be taken-----

Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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You are out of order.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Nice try. I hope we will get to the Deputy's question.