Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)

I thank Senator Boyle for raising the matter. He has painted a wonderful picture of being in Fahan and I have been there in the beautiful Inishowen Peninsula. The Senator is right; it is a picturesque, beautiful spot. The point he makes regarding the low-cost accident scheme is an important one we need to embrace and I thank him for raising the matter.

As the Senator knows quite well, the improvement works scheme when it comes to local grants and regional roads is part of the Government 2025 regional roads programme. The Government is strongly committed to it in terms of protecting and enhancing the existing road network. This network is fundamental in connecting people and places throughout the country, in particular in Donegal. The Senator is right to highlight the issues of safety in Donegal and the depth and breadth of the county and its geographical scale. The regional roads programme facilitates business, education, tourism, healthcare, agriculture and the provision of critical services and activities.

It is important to highlight that, in accordance with the Roads Act 1993, the improvement and maintenance of the regional and local road network is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in this case Donegal County Council. Works on these roads are funded from the council's own resources and are supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter for the local authority.

Ireland's regional and local road network spans more than 96,000 km and requires significant funding to ensure it remains fit for purpose, safe and resilient, as the Senator has rightly outlined regarding Fahan. As such, this year €713 million was allocated to regional and local roads. Due to the vast scale of the network, the Department of Transport employs an array of grant types to target investment across the regional road network. Within the budget available, State grant funding is allocated on as fair and equitable a basis as possible to ensure that all local authorities are in receipt of funds to maintain their networks. The allocation of the three biggest Exchequer grant types for regional and local roads is based on the length of road within a local authority’s area, with additional funding based on contributing factors in specific areas. This year, more than €13 million has been allocated specifically under the safety improvement works grant programme to regional and local roads for 339 schemes in the State, while a further €12.3 million of the specific improvement grant programme was allocated to road improvement schemes related to road safety. This year, Donegal County Council has been allocated €649,500 for 14 schemes under the safety improvement works grant programme. According to the Department’s records, an application has not yet been received from Donegal County Council for funding safety improvement works in Fahan.

It is the case that Donegal County Council is legally responsible for ensuring its network is maintained and improved. The Department approach means that while central government is supplying significant funding, we are acknowledging that local authorities themselves are best placed to make determinations in their own areas for maximum delivery of results. Indeed, the initial selection and prioritisation of maintenance and renewal works is a matter for each local authority and Donegal County Council is the first point here. There is flexibility within the State grant programme for councils to direct resources to address particular problems identified on their networks as they see fit.

I will have a word with Department officials regarding the matter Senator Boyle has raised because he is right. Like Senator Murphy O'Mahony's issue, it is about being creative and ensure there is flexibility in terms of low-cost accident scheme funding. It is important we support our road network being maintained and protected. At a time when we see people being killed on our roads, it is important we redouble our efforts in a variety of ways and one of these is road improvements, so I thank the Senator for raising the matter.