Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his Department's estimate of the money needed per annum to upgrade non-national roads and pavement restoration to acceptable and safe standards; the amount he provided in the Estimates for this purpose in 2006; the shortfall; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36644/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The improvement and maintenance of non-national roads is a matter for local authorities to be funded from their own resources supplemented by State Grants provided by my Department.

The results of a Pavement Condition Study on non-national roads, which was carried out by consultants and completed in 2005, have shown that there has been a very large growth in traffic volumes, including numbers of heavy goods vehicles, on our roads over the last 10 years and that the combination of growth in traffic volumes and damaging power has dramatically increased the structural loading on the non-national roads network. The study concludes that the economic boom, since the first study was carried out in 1996, has fundamentally changed the loading regime on the non-national roads network, with much higher and more frequent loading by heavier vehicles now being the norm.

The rate of occurrence of potholes and road disintegration has effectively halved since 1996 as a result of the €1.5 billion investment in Restoration Improvement and Maintenance works over the 1997 to 2004 period. However, the instance of other defects, such as rutting and edge cracking, has increased since 1996 as a result of growth in traffic on the network — particularly that of heavier and wider commercial vehicles.

The Study identified the level of pavement restoration needs in all county council areas. Based on these findings, my Department estimated that a sum of approximately €2 billion, at 2005 prices, would be required to address the needs identified. In order to ensure that pavement restoration needs in all counties are addressed within a 10-15 year period, I have increased the grants available for Restoration Improvement works to €205.3 million in 2006, which is an increase of over €31 million, or almost 18%, on the 2005 allocation. This very substantial increase means that significant progress can be made in allocating funds to address the deficiencies identified by the Pavement Condition Study. I have also allocated grants totalling €75 million for Restoration Maintenance works this year. This represents an increase of €15 million, or 25%, on the 2005 allocation.

In addition to the pavement restoration programme, my Department also provides grants to local authorities for works on non-national roads under a number of other grant categories. An estimate of the total funding requirements for improvements to, and construction of new, non-national roads is not available in my Department. Grants are allocated on an annual basis and in determining the annual non-national road grant allocations, the overall objective is to resource each local authority appropriately in relation to their ongoing and special needs. The process is guided by a range of criteria, including road pavement conditions, traffic volumes, length of road network, population and eligibility in relation to specific projects such as EU Co-Financed Specific Improvements Schemes.

In 2006, the total grant allocation by my Department for non-national roads is almost €558 million — an increase of 13% or €62.5 million on the record 2005 allocation.