Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 55: To ask the Minister for Transport the level of funding which will be made available in order to alleviate the damage caused by flooding in County Donegal in June 2009. [28343/09]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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In September 2004 the Government confirmed the Office of Public Works (OPW) as the State's lead agency in flooding, to be tasked with delivering an integrated, multifaceted programme aimed at mitigating future flood risk and impact.

As regards flooding of roads, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is a matter for the relevant local authority, to be funded from its own resources supplemented by State road grants paid by my Department. The initial selection of works to be funded from these grants is also a matter for the local authority. Funding of national roads is a matter for the National Roads Authority.

When road grants for regional and local roads are allocated each year, my Department does not hold back a reserve allocation at central level to deal with weather contingencies. Such an arrangement would mean a reduction across all local authorities in the road grant allocations to them at the beginning of each year. Instead, the allocation made to local authorities is inclusive of the weather risk factor. Local authorities are expressly advised that they should set aside contingency sums from their overall regional and local roads resources to finance necessary weather related works.

In 2009, grants totalling €28.664 million were allocated to Donegal County Council for works on regional and local roads. This included a discretionary maintenance grant of €2 million and a discretionary improvement grant of €846,000. These grants are available at the discretion of Donegal County Council to fund contingency works arising from weather conditions.

My Department would also be prepared to consider sympathetically any request from Donegal County Council to adjust its multi-annual Restoration Programmes in order to prioritise work necessitated by severe weather conditions. In 2009, Donegal County Council was allocated a restoration improvement grant of €9.384 million and a restoration maintenance grant of €5.750 million.

In very exceptional circumstances, my Department will consider applications for additional funding of remedial works to roads and bridges following flooding. Consideration of any applications for financial assistance would, of course, have to take account of the current budgetary situation and the resources already allocated to the county.