Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 255: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will provide emergency funding to restore county roads which have been damaged as a result of the recent flooding in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45380/09]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 256: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will provide emergency funding to repair county roads in County Clare which have been damaged as a result of the recent flooding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45381/09]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 255 and 256 together.

As regards flooding of roads, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is a statutory function of each road authority, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act, 1993, to be funded from its own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection of works to be funded from these grants is also a matter for the local 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 made to them at the beginning of each year. The allocations made to local authorities are inclusive of a 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. That stipulation is contained clearly in the circular letter which is sent to each local authority with the yearly road grant allocations.

My Department would also be prepared to consider, sympathetically, any request from local authorities to adjust their multi-annual restoration programmes, or revise their specific grant applications, in order to facilitate works now required as a result of the recent exceptional flooding.

Local authorities are still assessing the extent of flood damage in their regions, and, I expect that it will take some time before all the authorities concerned can quantify the damage sustained to their regional and local road networks and cost the repairs.

The Deputy will appreciate that I cannot, at this time, indicate what funding might be either needed or available to address damage caused to the regional and local road network by recent flooding. My officials are keeping in contact with local authorities affected by flooding. The current difficulties being faced by those authorities are being monitored and will be taken into account in the 2010 regional and local road grant allocations, to the extent that resources will allow.