Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Question 131: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount of funding provided by his Department for non-national roads for each of the years 1994 to date in 2007; and the progress made to address deficiencies in the non-national road network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7484/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The provision and improvement 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.

There have been significant increases in recent years in the level of State funding provided to local authorities for the provision, improvement and maintenance of non-national roads. State funding in 2007 for non-national roads, at over €607.5 million, is at its highest ever level, and represents a very substantial increase of 9% on last year's record allocation, or an increase of almost €50 million.

As regards my Department's pavement restoration programme, the results of a Pavement Condition Study on non-national roads, which was carried out by consultants and completed in 2005, show 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 concluded 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.

On foot of the findings of the study, I have increased the grants available to County Councils for Restoration Improvement works to almost €225 million in 2007, which is an increase of almost €20 million, or 9.6%, on the 2006 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 €81 million for Restoration Maintenance works this year. This represents an increase of €6 million, or 8%, on the 2006 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. 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, length of road network, population and eligibility in relation to specific projects such as Specific Improvements Schemes.

Details of total non-national road grants paid by my Department for each of the years 1994 to 2006 and the initial allocation for 2007 are set out in the following table: