Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this very important matter, which no doubt he will raise at the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport when I am there next week or the week after. As Minister, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding on the national roads programme. In its annual budget, the planning, design and implementation, as the Senator will know, of individual roads projects is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from local authorities' own resources supplemented by State road grants. The overall funding position for 2018 is that while current budgets for national, regional and local roads are being cut, there are increases in capital budgets. Of course, I would have preferred not to be in a position where I had to opt for cuts in the current roads budget. However, it is important to emphasise that the increases in capital funding will more than offset the current expenditure cuts. In this context the national roads capital budget will increase by €35 million to €434 million. The regional and local roads capital budget is increasing by about €100 million to €381 million in 2018.

As regards regional and local roads, I was happy to be able to announce yesterday, of which the Senator will be aware, a much-needed increase in grant allocations of around 29%. Funding in 2018 will largely continue to support the maintenance of the regional and local road network and should allow approximately 2,300 km of regional and local roads to be maintained and 2,100 km to be strengthened this year. The allocations in 2018 will also see expenditure on road improvement projects increasing to approximately €50 million.

Capital projects included in the capital plan will progress together with a significant number of safety related and bridge rehabilitation schemes. I am also introducing ring-fenced funding for community involvement schemes and for drainage. As I indicated yesterday, these are two areas where I have very much wanted to take action and I am very glad to be able to do so this year.

There needs to be an increased focus on measures to improve the resilience of the road network in the face of climate change. There is also provision for 216 smaller bridge rehabilitation schemes and 227 safety improvements projects to be carried out. The main focus of the safety improvements scheme is to improve safety at locations where collisions have taken place. The Government gave a specific commitment after the devastating flooding in County Donegal last year to assist Donegal County Council with road repairs and funding is being provided in 2018 to meet that commitment. It is also important to note that these grant allocations do not represent the total investment in regional and local roads for this year. State grant funding is in addition to the resources the local authorities put into their roads. Considerable autonomy is given to local authorities to decide their roadworks programme. I always emphasise to local authorities the need to prioritise expenditure on roads when allocated their own resources.