John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 455: To ask the Minister for Transport the way in which local authorities can avail of funding for traffic calming in view of the fact that enough progress is not being made in some residential areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23605/08]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The improvement of regional and local roads in its area, including the provision of traffic calming measures, is a matter for each individual local authority to be funded from its own resources supplemented by grants provided by my Department.

Local authorities may submit applications for funding such projects under my Department's Low Cost Safety Improvement Works scheme of grants for regional and local roads. This scheme of grants was introduced by my Department in 2000 as an extension of the scheme operated on national roads under the auspices of the National Roads Authority (NRA). The NRA assesses applications for grant assistance under the regional and local roads scheme on behalf of my Department. The criteria for grant approval are based on accident data, inspection of sites, locations showing demonstrable hazard and discussions between the local authority and the NRA.

Local authorities may also use Discretionary Improvement and Block grants provided by my Department towards the cost of providing traffic calming measures on regional and local roads. In 2008, the Discretionary Improvement grant allocation to county councils is €24.9 million and the Block grant allocation to city, borough and town councils is €16.13 million.