Lorraine Higgins (Labour)
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Coming from rural Ireland, the Minister of State is aware of the major issue of privately owned roads and the way they have been maintained. It is important that they are maintained to remain safe and fit for purpose for all road users, pedestrians and motorists alike. The cost of maintenance is incredibly expensive and far beyond the owners' ability to pay. In 2013, a private road servicing family homes in Killarney, County Kerry, cost an estimated €75,000 to repair. I am sure the Minister of State agrees this is a colossal amount for an individual, group or family to cover for access to property. While privately owned, such roads are often used by the public. Council schemes to tar and chip these roads have been discontinued, leaving owners adrift facing mounting and financially crippling costs for roads that are essential to their livelihoods. This leads to privately owned rural roads falling into disrepair, with potentially dangerous and restrictive consequences for those who use them. I know of four farm families in Galway East who have limited access to their farmland so that they can go to work and earn a livelihood. It is having a detrimental impact on their lives and the situation is clearly unfair to owners of privately owned roads.

I appreciate that county councils are very stretched financially in providing for the existing public road network and are not in a position to cover the costs that might be involved in repairing these roads. For that reason, I ask the Minister to introduce a generous road improvement scheme to fund private roads and improve road safety throughout the country. It would offer much-needed relief to the owners of these private roads and those in rural areas who rely on them.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to reply on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe.
The Minister has responsibility for overall policy and funding in respect of the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual road projects are a matter for the National Roads Authority, NRA, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Within its capital budget, the assessment and prioritisation of individual projects is a matter in the first instance for the NRA in accordance with section 19 of the Roads Act. The NRA has no function relating to non-public roads. With regard to regional and local roads, the improvement and maintenance of those 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 initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.
Due to the national financial position, Exchequer funding for Ireland's roads has fallen radically. Funding in 2008 was €2.3 billion, while funding this year is less than €800 million for the national, regional and local road network. The reality is that the available funds do not match the amount of work required. For this reason the main focus has to be on the maintenance and repair of public roads, and this will continue to be the position for some years to come.
There is a scheme in place relating to non-public roads. The local improvement scheme provides funding for roads and laneways that councils have not taken in charge. However, the maintenance and improvement of these roads is a matter for the relevant landowner. There is no separate allocation for the local improvement scheme. Instead, local authorities may use up to 15%, up from 7% in 2013, of their initial discretionary grant towards local improvement schemes should they wish to do so. The local contribution for these schemes is 20% of the total cost of the project. It is my understanding that the majority of local authorities opt to focus funding on public roads. It is open to local authorities to supplement the percentage of their discretionary grant that they can use for the local improvement schemes with their own resources.
As I mentioned earlier, the purpose of Exchequer grants is to supplement local authorities' own resources. It is also a matter for the local authority to agree and prioritise its own work programme for the year. The Minister believes that local authorities are best placed to judge the priority of works on private roads, taking road safety factors into account. In this way, local authorities may decide whether they want to operate the local improvement scheme in their areas or would prefer to put their resources into regional and local public roads. If a separate fund were to be set aside for the local improvement scheme, this would involve making a pro ratareduction to the other road grants headings and imposing the scheme on local authorities that would prefer to prioritise public roads. The Minister does not favour such an approach. He will be announcing the 2015 road grants in January.
Last year this scheme was abolished and I fought hard to get it reinstated. I also managed to increase the percentage from 7% to 15% last year. The local authorities have their own discretionary money and the Senator should find out what Galway County Council uses for its discretionary money. In fact, it uses the grant aid it gets from the Government instead of using some of its own funding. In some cases, local authorities, including my own, are great at finding money for travelling the world and for events within the councils. The Senator should ask her local authority to prioritise this matter. I will continue to push to get whatever funding I can, because I support this scheme. People in rural areas have private roads which in reality are not private roads but public roads that have not yet been taken in charge by the county councils. I would like the Government to provide more funding for the scheme, but so should the local authorities. They are great for creaming off the money themselves, but they should put some of it into roads.

Lorraine Higgins (Labour)
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I commend the Minister on his efforts in regard to local roads, particularly private roads, and getting that scheme in place. With regard to the Minister's response, it is not enough to pit private roads against public roads. The costs are excessive for families and farmers and I strongly believe there should be a dedicated scheme in excess of the 15% on offer to cover them. I acknowledge that the 15% is a start, as we are coming through difficult times, but we must work towards providing a better scheme. I commend the Minister on what he has done so far. He has certainly shown leadership on the issue, which will be of some relief to families throughout Ireland.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator.